Association between insomnia and coping style in Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Abstract

Purpose

Insomnia, which is associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM), results in a low quality of life, and several relationships exist between insomnia and coping style. Thus, we clarified the association between some coping styles and insomnia among Japanese type 2 DM patients.

Subjects and methods

The subjects included 503 type 2 DM patients (mean age 63.9±12.5 years). Sleep disturbance and personality traits were evaluated using the Japanese version of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and the Brief Scale for Coping Profile, respectively. Lifestyle factors, glycated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels, and the depression statuses of the patients were also included in the analyses.

Results

Among the 503 subjects with type 2 DM, 141 (28.0%) subjects exhibited probable insomnia. After adjusting for confounders, being female, living alone, and using “avoidance and suppression” were significantly correlated with current insomnia. No other relationships were found between insomnia and HbA1c or lifestyle factors, such as smoking, drinking alcohol, and exercise frequency.

Conclusion

The prevalence of insomnia in individuals with type 2 DM was high, and the protective factors included some emotion-focused coping styles. Future prospective studies are required to confirm the therapeutic effects of behavioral interventions on insomnia in patients with type 2 DM.

Keywords:

• cross-sectional studies
• coping style
• Japanese
• insomnia
• type 2 DM

Acknowledgments

This study was funded by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (KAKENHI) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Research (JSPS, 15K19239, 15K19710, 15H04754, and 15K01643). The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the article.

Disclosure

NY-F received grant/research support or honoraria from and has been a speaker for Dainippon-Sumitomo Pharmaceutical, Mochida Pharmaceutical, and MSD. The authors report no other conflicts of interest in this work.