A recent study published in Archives of Endocrinology and Metabolism suggests that getting extra sleep on weekends—known as weekend catch-up sleep (WCS)—may be linked with a lower risk of diabetic kidney disease (DKD) and proteinuria among American adults with diabetes, especially women and those with hypertension.

Researchers analyzed data from 1,621 adults aged 18 years and older who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2017–2020). WCS was determined by subtracting average weekday sleep duration from average weekend sleep duration. 

Participants were then grouped by their WCS patterns and evaluated for the presence of DKD, reduced estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), and proteinuria using multivariate logistic regression models adjusted for demographic, clinical, and lifestyle factors.

Among 583 diabetic patients with DKD, 198 had reduced eGFR and 499 had proteinuria. The analysis found that individuals with 2 to <3 Hours of WCS had significantly lower odds of DKD (OR = 0.51; 95% CI: 0.28–0.93) and proteinuria (OR = 0.51; 95% CI: 0.27–0.96) compared to those with no catch-up sleep. Subgroup analysis showed that the protective association was particularly strong in women with diabetes and those with coexisting hypertension. In contrast, no significant correlation was observed between WCS and reduced eGFR in fully adjusted models.