Moderating effects of sleep duration on diabetes risk among cancer survivors: analysis of the National Health Interview Survey in the USA

BACKGROUND: Growing evidence suggests that cancer and diabetes may share common risk factors such as age, race/ethnicity, obesity, insulin resistance, sedentary lifestyle, smoking, and alcohol consumption. However, little is known about how habitual sleep duration (a known cardiometabolic risk factor) may affect the relationship between cancer and diabetes. The aim of this study was to investigate whether sleep duration moderated the relationship between history of cancer and diabetes. METHODS: Data were extracted from the National Health Interview Survey dataset from 2004 to 2013 containing demographics, chronic diseases, and sleep duration (N=236,406). Data were analyzed to assess the moderating effect of short and long sleep durations on cancer and diabetes mellitus. RESULTS: Our findings indicate that short sleep (odds ratio [OR] =1.07, 95% CI =1.03–1.11, P<0.001) and long sleep (OR =1.32, 95% CI =1.26–1.39, P<0.001) were associated with diabetes mellitus in fully adjusted models. However, only long sleep duration significantly moderated the relationship between cancer and diabetes (OR =0.88, 95% CI =0.78–0.98, P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Our findings indicate that for cancer survivors, short sleep was associated with higher self-reported diabetes and long sleep duration may act as a buffer against diabetes mellitus, as the likelihood of self-reported diabetes was lower among cancer survivors who reported long sleep duration. IMPACT: Findings from the current study have clinical and public health implications. Clinically, comprehensive sleep assessments and sleep interventions to improve sleep are needed for cancer survivors who have comorbid diabetes. Our findings can also spur public health reform to make sleep an important component of standard cancer survivorship care, as it reduces other chronic disease like diabetes.