The Relationship between Glycemic Index, Social Support and Sleep Quality in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes

Mirzaei, Mohammadreza; Sharifi, Mohammad Hossein; Mahboobi, Sepideh; Shahinfar, Hossein; Karimi, Mina; Eftekhari, Mohammad Hassan

doi:10.30476/ijns.2025.100845.1286

The Relationship between Glycemic Index, Social Support and Sleep Quality in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Mohammadreza Mirzaei ¹

Mohammad Hossein Sharifi ²

Sepideh Mahboobi ¹

Hossein Shahinfar ³

Mina Karimi ³

Mohammad Hassan Eftekhari ¹

¹ Department of Clinical Nutrition, School of Nutrition and Food Sciences, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

² Research Center for Traditional Medicine and History of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

³ Department of Nutrition, School of Public Health, Iran University of Medical Science, Tehran, Iran

10.30476/ijns.2025.100845.1286

Abstract

Background: Social support and sleep quality can be beneficial in both self-care behaviors and health outcomes in subjects with type 2 diabetes (T2DM). The aim of this study was to analyze the relationship between glycemic index, social support and sleep quality in patients with T2DM.
Methods: In a cross-sectional study, 156 men and 144 women with T2DM were enrolled from July to September 2020. Level of self-care activities, social support, and sleep quality were measured with validated and appropriate questionnaires, and clinical characteristics were acquired from patients’ medical records.
Results: The mean age of the participants was 50.83±7.14 years. According to this study, more than 60% of participants had poor selfcare behaviors (37.68±12.94) and poor sleep quality (7.55±3.80) and the overall average of the social support score was moderate (67.73±19.85). A significant negative association was noticed between HbA1c and selfcare
activities and social support score (r=-0.346, p<0.001 and r=-0.309, p<0.001, respectively). There was a significant positive relationship between HbA1c and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) score (r=0.469, p<0.001). Also, a significant negative association was observed between social support and PSQI score (r=-0.393, p<0.001).
Conclusion: Glycemic control, self-care behaviors, high social support, and optimal sleep quality are suggested to be considered in diabetes management guidelines and policy making.

Highlights

Mohammad Hassan Eftekhari (Google Scholar)

Keywords

Type 2 diabetes

Glycemic index

Social support

Sleep quality

Iran