Study Objectives: To determine if weight loss and/or changes in apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) improve sleep architecture in overweight/obese adults with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Methods: This was a randomized controlled trial including 264 overweight/obese adults with T2D and OSA. Participants were randomized to an intensive lifestyle intervention (ILI) or a diabetes and support education (DSE) control group. Measures included anthropometry, AHI, and sleep at baseline and year-1, year-2, and year-4 follow-ups. Results: Changes in sleep duration (total sleep time [TST]), continuity [wake after sleep onset (WASO)], and architecture stage 1, stage 2, slow wave sleep, and REM sleep) from baseline to year 1, 2, and 4 did not differ between ILI and DSE. Repeated-measure mixed-model analyses including data from baseline through year-4 for all participants demonstrated a signifi cant positive association between AHI and stage 1 sleep (p < 0.001), and a signifi cant negative association between AHI and stage 2 (p = 0.01) and REM sleep (p < 0.001), whereas changes in body weight had no relation to any sleep stages or TST. WASO had a signifi cant positive association with change in body weight (p = 0.009). Conclusions: Compared to control, the ILI did not induce signifi cant changes in sleep across the 4-year follow-up. In participants overall, reduced AHI in overweight/obese adults with T2D and OSA was associated with decreased stage 1, and increased stage 2 and REM sleep. These sleep architecture changes are more strongly related to reductions in AHI than body weight, whereas WASO may be more infl uenced by weight than AHI.
S C I E N T I F I C I N V E S T I G A T I O N SO besity, type 2 diabetes (T2D), and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) are three related disorders which have been demonstrated to co-occur in patients. Indeed, obesity is established as one of the leading risk factors for the development of both T2D and OSA, and a high prevalence (~86.6%) of undiagnosed OSA was found in obese patients with T2D.1 Defi cits in sleep duration and/or quality may be a common link among these three factors. A growing body of both epidemiological and laboratory-based studies supports a role of short sleep duration in the development of obesity.2-4 Sleep curtailment is also associated with increased incidence of T2D as well as defi cits in glucose regulation.
BRIEF SUMMARYCurrent Knowledge/Study Rationale: A growing body of evidence supports a relationship between sleep and obesity. A long-term weight loss intervention (up to 4 years) has previously been shown to improve the severity of sleep disordered breathing in a group of overweight and obese patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and type 2 diabetes, although the effects of the structured weight loss program on nocturnal sleep duration and architecture have not yet been explored. Study Impact: Although the weight loss intervention was effective in reducing the severity of OSA over a 4-year period, it did not lead to changes in the various po...