Impacts of covid-19 on sleep quality and autonomic function in elderly diabetic women

Leonardo Hesley Ferraz Durans; Ellian Robert Vale Santos; Thamyres da Cruz Miranda; Helen Nara da Silva E Silva; Nivaldo de Jesus Silva Soares Júnior; Sarah Raquel Dutra Macedo; Cristiano Teixeira Mostarda

doi:10.1016/j.autneu.2023.103118

Impacts of covid-19 on sleep quality and autonomic function in elderly diabetic women

Auton Neurosci. 2023 Nov:249:103118. doi: 10.1016/j.autneu.2023.103118. Epub 2023 Aug 22.

Authors

Leonardo Hesley Ferraz Durans¹, Ellian Robert Vale Santos¹, Thamyres da Cruz Miranda¹, Helen Nara da Silva E Silva¹, Nivaldo de Jesus Silva Soares Júnior¹, Sarah Raquel Dutra Macedo¹, Cristiano Teixeira Mostarda²

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Cardiovascular Adaptation to Exercise (LACORE), Physical Education Department, Universidade Federal do Maranhão (UFMA), São Luís, MA, Brazil.
² Laboratory of Cardiovascular Adaptation to Exercise (LACORE), Physical Education Department, Universidade Federal do Maranhão (UFMA), São Luís, MA, Brazil. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 37657370
DOI: 10.1016/j.autneu.2023.103118

Abstract

Aim: to analyze the quality of sleep and cardiac autonomic modulation of elderly diabetic women in the post-covid-19 syndrome.

Methodology: 41 elderly women, aged 60-75 years, with a diagnosis of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and who had covid-19 were included, divided into three groups: 14 in the Diabetes without covid-19 group (DG), 15 in the Diabetes with covid-19 group (CG), 12 in the Diabetes with covid-19 group who had Pulmonary Compromise (IG). Sleep quality was assessed using the Pittsburgh questionnaire, anamnesis, capillary blood glucose, blood pressure collection, anthropometry, resting electrocardiogram for 10 min for heart rate variability (HRV) analysis. Data were analyzed by 1-way ANOVA followed by Tukey-Kramer Multiple Comparisons Test, significance for p ≤ 0.05.

Results: there was no significant difference in age, blood glucose, blood pressure, and body composition between the groups. In the analysis of sleep quality, there was significance in the following indices: sleep duration, sleep efficiency, sleep disturbances, and daytime sleepiness. Further, there was a reduction in autonomic indices between CG vs. DG: VarRR (ms²), SDNN (ms), SD1 (ms), TINN (ms), HF-log (ms²), LF-log (ms²); and between IG vs. DG: VarRR (ms²), SDNN (ms), RMSSD (ms), SD1 (ms), SD2 (ms), and HF-log (ms²).

Conclusion: it is suggestive that diabetic elderly women who had covid-19, with and without pulmonary impairment, have impaired sleep quality and interference on HRV with decreased parasympathetic autonomic modulation.

Keywords: Autonomic nervous system; Covid-19; Diabetes mellitus; Elderly women; Sleep.