Introduction/objective: The prevalence of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus is increasing in the older American population, especially Mexican Americans. Sleep disorders are common in older adults with T2DM. This study examined the relationship between T2DM-related complications and sleep complaints in older Mexican Americans over 9 years of follow-up.
Methods: Study included 310 participants aged 77 years or older with self-reported diabetes from the Hispanic Established Population for the Epidemiological Study of the Elderly (2007/08-2016).
Results: Of the 310 participants, the mean age was 82.04 years. The cohort had significantly more females (69.03%) than males (30.97%). A substantial number of participants had trouble falling asleep (16.13%), waking up several times (36.45%), trouble staying asleep (15.16%), and feeling tired and worn out after waking up (12.90%). The percent of diabetes complications were 70.2% for circulation problems, 58.2% for eye disorders, 15.9% for kidney disease, and 4.4% for amputation. Participants who experienced sleep complaints for 15 or more days in a month were more likely to experience diabetic complications.
Discussion: This study demonstrated a significant relationship between T2DM macro- and micro-vascular complications and increased risk of sleep disorders in older Mexican Americans.
Keywords: Mexican Americans; diabetes complications; elderly; longitudinal study; sleep disorders; type 2 diabetes.