Associations between fatigue, sleep disturbance and eating style in adults with type 2 diabetes: A correlational study

Aims and objectives To test the hypothesis that fatigue and sleep disturbance account for a significant amount of variation in eating styles among people with type 2 diabetes (T2D). Background Healthy eating is an important component of diabetes self-care but remains a major challenge. In people with T2D, symptoms of fatigue and sleep disturbance are pervasive. However, there is limited understanding of whether fatigue and sleep disturbance are associated with eating style in people with T2D. Design Correlational design. Methods This study was reported following the STROBE checklist. Data were collected between February 2017 and January 2018. A convenience sample of 64 T2D adults completed the Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire-R18V2 to measure eating style (e.g., emotional eating, cognitive restraint and uncontrolled eating). Diabetes distress, fatigue and sleep disturbance were measured using validated questionnaires. Hierarchical regression analyses were performed. Results Only age was a significant predictor (beta = -0.344) of cognitive restraint. Participant demographics, psychological factor and health-related factors contribute significantly to the model predicting emotional eating, but only diabetes distress was a significant predictor (beta = 0.433). Introducing fatigue and poor sleep quality explained an additional 12.0% of the variation in emotional eating. The final model explained 24.9% of the variation in emotional eating; both diabetes distress (beta = 0.294) and fatigue (beta = 0.360) were significant predictors. Conclusion There is a strong, independent relationship of fatigue and diabetes distress with emotional eating T2D patients. The effect of improving fatigue and diabetes distress on eating style should be explored. Relevance to clinical practice In clinical practice, nurses are recommended to include a detailed assessment of fatigue and distress in patients with diabetes. Additional to the conventional nutrition therapy focusing on diet advice, eating style should also be incorporated in diet education by diabetes nurses.