Short Sleep Is Linked to an Increased Risk for Hypertension

TOPLINE:

A nighttime sleep duration less than 7 hours was associated with an increased risk for hypertension, especially in women. No significant association was found between a sleep duration more than 8 hours and the risk for hypertension.

METHODOLOGY:

• Researchers conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of 23 prospective cohort studies to explore the association between nighttime sleep duration and the risk for hypertension.
• Data were sourced from multiple databases, including PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, CNKI, Cqvip, and Wanfang, up to May 3src, 2src22.
• A total of 173,734 adult participants were included in the analysis, of whom 41,528 developed hypertension during the study period.
• Participants were grouped according to their daily nighttime sleep duration: <6 hours, 6-7 hours, ≤ 7 hours, and> 8 hours, with those sleeping for 7-8 hours being the reference group.
• The analysis included studies that provided effect sizes, including hazard ratios, relative risks, or odds ratios with 95% CIs, and used a random-effects model to estimate pooled effect sizes.

TAKEAWAY:

• A sleep duration of 6-7 hours/day was associated with an elevated risk for hypertension (combined risk estimate, 1.src4; 95% CI, 1.src2-1.src7).
• A nighttime sleep duration <6 hours was also associated with an increased risk for hypertension (pooled risk estimate, 1.17; 95% CI, 1.src6-1.28). No significant association was found between sleep durations> 8 hours and the risk for hypertension.
• Nighttime sleep durations of 6-7 hours and <6 hours were associated with an increased risk for hypertension in women, with the pooled risk estimates being 1.src7 (95% CI, 1.src2-1.12) and 1.12 (95% CI, 1.src6-1.19), respectively. No significant association between the two was observed in men.
• A nighttime sleep duration <6 hours was associated with an increased risk for hypertension in individuals younger than 6src years (pooled risk, 1.24; 95% CI, 1.1src-1.39).

IN PRACTICE:

“This emphasizes the importance of effective sleep duration management, especially among the working population, in hypertension prevention and treatment, highlighting the necessity for incorporating sleep management into current guidelines,” the authors wrote. “A deeper exploration of the multifaceted aspects of sleep and its interaction with hypertension holds the promise of unveiling novel strategies to optimize sleep patterns, thereby promoting better cardiovascular health and reducing the burden of hypertension on a global scale,” they added.

SOURCE:

This study was led by Jianghan Qi, MMed, of the Academy of Integrative Medicine at Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and Meiling Yang, MMed, of The Third Affiliated Hospital of Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, both in Fuzhou, China. It was published online in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

LIMITATIONS: 

The reliance on self-reported sleep durations may have introduced potential recall bias because participants report may not accurately reflect their sleep patterns; this could lead to misclassification and affect the observed effects. Additionally, the inability to account for quality of sleep and other confounding factors could obscure the true relationship between sleep and hypertension. Sleep quality, specific bedtime, or the relationship between napping and the incidence of hypertension was not examined.

DISCLOSURES:

This study was supported by a grant from the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Central Guidance for Local Science and Technology Development Projects. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.