Evaluation of the Sleep Profile in Women with Severe Obesity

Abstract

Background: Sleep disturbance has been strongly related to uncontrolled food intake and complications of obesity, such as glycemic control. Objective: To evaluate excessive daytime sleepiness with the glycemic profile of women with severe obesity. Methods: Cross-sectional study with 43 volunteers. The anthropometric assessment consisted of weight, height, waist, hip and neck circumference. The blood was collected for biochemical analysis. The HOMA-IR and HOMA-beta were calculated. The volunteers were grouped according to the presence or absence of sleepiness. The tests were performed in accordance with normality, with p <0.05. The comparison between the group means was performed using the simple Generalized Linear Model (GLM) test. Correlation was performed between neck circumference (CP) and blood glucose, insulin, HOMA-IR and HOMA-beta values. The linear regression was performed for the analyses between the CP and insulin values. Results: The majority of the studied population (74.42%) presented medium or severe sleepiness. The sleepiness group had a higher mean for age (p = 0.022) and a lower mean for weight (p = 0.047). No difference was found between groups in the glycemic profile. However, significant values were observed when correlating CP with insulin values (p = 0.012) and HOMA-IR (p = 0.004) in the group with sleepiness. Linear regression demonstrated that CP is an independent factor for circulating insulin levels (p = 0.012 and R = 0.194). Conclusion: Women with severe obesity have a high prevalence of excessive daytime sleepiness and in this group, CP seems to be a good indirect indicator of the glycemic response.