Poor sleep quality tied to lower heart rate variability in diabetic adolescents, study finds

USA: A recent study has suggested considering the evaluation of early signs of cardiovascular autonomic changes and sleep quality in routine assessments of adolescents with diabetes. The researchers add the need for future research to examine more robust measures of sleep and heart rate variability (HRV) in diabetic adolescents. The study appears in the Journal of Diabetes and its Complications. 

Previous studies have shown reduced sleep quality and lower HRV to be both independently associated with diabetes and may contribute to cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. Poor sleep quality has been associated with lower HRV in adults with type 2 diabetes (T2D) but there is no availability of studies of sleep quality in adolescents with T2D or studies examining the possible association of poor sleep quality with lower HRV in adolescents with T2D or T1D. 

Against the above backdrop, Melissa Spezia Faulkner and Michael J. Smart from Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA, and colleagues conducted a secondary analysis of data from an existing study to determine if there were associations between sleep quality and HRV in adolescents with T1D or T2D.

For this purpose, adolescents with T1D (n = 101) or T2D (n = 37) were made to complete 24-h HRV Holter monitoring and analysis and a self-reported global measure of sleep quality. They found that poor sleep quality is significantly associated with lower HRV, a known predictor for CV risk. Those with T2D had lower measures of HRV.

"There is a tremendous urgency to raise awareness for optimal sleep hygiene that in turn may minimize future disease risks for adolescents with diabetes," the authors wrote. 

"Poor quality sleep and lower HRV are particular concerns that warrant further investigation along with more objective measures of both sleep quality and sleep duration to better understand key vulnerabilities in youth populations with diabetes," they concluded. 

Reference:

The study titled, "Sleep quality and heart rate variability in adolescents with type 1 or type 2 diabetes," was published in the Journal of Diabetes and its Complications.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdiacomp.2021.108049