Association between sleep difficulties as well as duration and hypertension: is BMI a mediator?

Association of Sleep Quality With Greater Left Ventricular Mass in Children Aged 9 to 11 Years

OBJECTIVE

Research has consistently found associations between sleep characteristics and cardiovascular disease risk in children, adolescents, and adults. Although primarily investigated in clinical samples (e.g., in those with sleep disorders), greater left ventricular mass is associated with poor sleep quality in nonclinical adult populations as well; however, this has not been evaluated in children or adolescents. Our study aim was to consider the relationship between objectively measured sleep characteristics and left ventricular mass in children.

METHODS

We assessed sleep and cardiac structure in a biracial sample of 9- to 11-year-old children (n = 176; 41% White, 59% Black; 50% female). Sleep was assessed with actigraphy for five nights. Cardiac dimensions were assessed using echocardiography.

RESULTS

After adjusting for covariates, we found that poor sleep quality was associated with significantly greater left ventricular mass (β = 0.13, t(167) = 2.14, p = .034, Cohen d = 0.16, for activity during sleep; β = 0.15, t(167) = 2.43, p = .016, Cohen d = 0.18, for sleep fragmentation). Other cardiac dimensions (namely, relative wall thickness and right ventricular dimension) were also significantly associated with sleep characteristics. Notably, associations did not differ as a function of sex or race.

CONCLUSIONS

The present findings are novel and unique because no prior reports have systematically documented the association between poor sleep quality with potentially detrimental cardiac remodeling in a nonclinical sample of children. However, the novelty and importance of these findings require additional research for confirmation.

Association of obesity and pulse pressure with hypertension in an Iranian urban population

Objective:

Nowadays, obesity is an important health problem and pulse pressure (PP) is a good predictor of cardiovascular events. The aim of study was to determine the association of obesity and PP with hypertension (HTN) in individuals aged 30 years or older in the urban population of Jahrom, Iran.

Materials and Methods:

In this study, we used a multistage stratified sampling method to select participants among the urban population aged 30 years or older. Height, weight, and blood pressure were obtained by a trained physician. Obesity was defined according to the World Health Organization classification. Angina was assessed with reliable and validate Rose questionnaire. Data were record by SPSS-16. Categorical and continues variables analyzed by Chi-squared, independent t-test, and one-way ANOVA test. Binary logistic regression analysis method was used for the association of PP and obesity with HTN and Rose angina that adjusted for age, gender, education class, marital status, smoking, total cholesterol, triglyceride, low-density lipoprotein, and high-density lipoprotein. A P < 0.05 was considered as statistical significance.

Results:

The prevalence of obesity was 18.1% that was greater in women (24.8% vs. 9.9%, P < 0.001). The prevalence of Rose angina and HTN in obese individuals were more than in normal weight individuals (24.8% vs. 16.4%, P = 0.027) and (42.0% vs. 31.1%, P < 0.001), respectively. Furthermore, patients in higher PP groups were older, were more possible to had HTN and had greater diastolic blood pressure (DBP), systolic blood pressure (SBP), and mean arterial pressure (MAP) in compared to individuals in the lower PP group. The individuals with HTN had greater DBP, SBP, MAP, PP, and body mass index (BMI) than individuals without HTN. However, individuals who had Rose angina, only had higher PP and BMI in compared to ones without Rose angina. The obese individuals had 1.97 (1.22–3.17, P = 0.005) fold for HTN risk than individuals with normal weight. In addition, PP weakly increased the risk of HTN about 1.09 fold (1.07–1.10, P < 0.001). However, Rose angina was associated only to overweight status (odds ratio = 1.51, confidence interval 95%: 1.03–2.20), P = 0.035) than individuals in normal weight group.

Conclusion:

Obesity and PP were higher in hypertensive individuals and overweight in individuals with Rose angina. It is time to pay more attention to abnormal BMI.

Relationship of sleep duration on workdays and non-workdays with blood pressure components in Chinese hypertensive patients

Objectives: This study aimed to assess the relationship of sleep duration on workdays and non-workdays with BP components [systolic BP (SBP), diastolic (DBP), pulse pressure (PP), and mean arterial pressure (MAP)] among Chinese hypertensive adults. Methods: The study included 3,376 hypertensive patients without antihypertensive treatment. Self-reported sleep durations on workdays and non-workdays were measured by the questionnaire. Multiple linear regression analyses were performed to evaluate the association of sleep duration with BP components. Results: Overall, compared with a sleep duration of 5-9 h, individuals who slept ≥10 h on both workdays and non-workdays were positively correlated with SBP [β (95% CIs) = 3.99 (1.06, 6.93) and 4.33 (1.79, 6.87)] and PP [β (95% CIs) = 3.25 (0.71, 5.79) and 3.05 (0.85, 5.25)], but not with DBP. Moreover, individuals who slept ≥10 h only on non-workdays had higher MAP [β (95% CIs) = 2.30 (0.63, 3.97)]. The stratified analyses showed that subjects with a BMI ≥24 kg/m² in the longer sleep duration group (≥10 h) only on workdays compared to the reference group had higher SBP, DBP and MAP (all P for interaction <0.05). The effect of longer sleep duration on BP components showed no difference in the following subgroups: sex, age, smoking and drinking (all P for interaction >0.05). Conclusion: Compared with a sleep duration of 5-9 h, longer sleep duration (≥10 h) on workdays and non-workdays was associated with high SBP and PP among Chinese hypertensive adults without antihypertensive treatment.