Sleep well, but be active. Effect of sleep and sedentariness on incidence of diabetes.

Aims: We aimed to determine the individual effect of long/short sleep and of inactivity on diabetes risk using data from a population-based prospective study in Switzerland.

Methods: Prospective study with a median (min-max) follow-up of 9 (2.4-11.5) years. Incident diabetes was defined based on 1) fasting plasma glucose (FPG), 2) glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), or 3) any diagnostic criterion (FPG, HbAc or medical diagnosis). Sleep and sedentary levels were assessed by questionnaire. Sleep was categorized into short (<7 h/day), adequate (7-9 h/day) and long (>9 h/day).

Results: Data from 3355 participants (57.6% women, mean age years 56.6 ± 10.3) was analyzed. There were 136, 110 and 142 incident cases of diabetes defined by FPG, HbAc or any criterion, respectively. Participants who developed diabetes had a higher sedentariness but no differences were found regarding sleep duration. Similar results were obtained after adjusting for age, gender, education, smoking and body mass index: hazard ratio (95% confidence interval) for sedentariness 1.61 (1.11-2.35), 1.40 (0.93-2.12) and 1.39 (1.04-1.87) for diabetes defined by FPG, HbAc or any diagnostic criterion, respectively.

Conclusion: Being sedentary, but not being a long or a short sleeper, increases the risk of developing diabetes.