While diabetes self-management has been improved and refined over the last 30 years, many persons with T2DM continue to have difficulty in achieving glycemic goals. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has a high prevalence among adults with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and is associated with excessive daytime sleepiness, impaired mood, decreased vigilance, and reduced functional outcomes. The degree that OSA affects diabetes self-management, a known determinant of glycemic control, remains unstudied.
The most effective treatment for OSA, continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), results in improved self-reported daytime functioning. However, the effect of CPAP treatment on reception of diabetes education remains unknown. The underlying premise of the proposed study from this new investigator is that OSA hinders diabetes self-management in adults with T2DM.
Our goal is to improve understanding of the effect of OSA on diabetes self-management and to determine the efficacy of CPAP treatment in improving diabetes outcomes in adults treated with CPAP compared to those on sham-CPAP. Expanding our understanding of the effect of sleep disturbances on diabetes self-management may lead to improved guidelines for screening and treatment of OSA in the increasingly large portion of the population with diabetes
