The age and gender effect on the association of sleep insufficiency with hypertension among adults in Greece

Background: We aimed to investigate the relationship between sleep characteristics with hypertension using self-reported questionnaires. Material & methods: A total of 957 adults were classified into three groups (short [<6 h], normal [6-8 h] and long [>8 h] sleepers). Hypertension was defined as systolic blood pressure >= 140 mmHg and/or diastolic blood pressure >= 90 mmHg or use of antihypertensive medication at the time of interview. Results: Overall prevalence of hypertension was 34.3%. Association between short sleep duration and hypertension that was age-specific, present only among younger and middle aged individuals and sparing the elderly, but not gender-specific, as no discrepancies existed between males and females in all age groups, was evident. Conclusion: This study promotes early pharmacological or cognitive behavioral interventions on sleep disturbances in order to reduce hypertension burden. [GRAPHICS] . Lay abstract: Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is considered the leading cause of cardiovascular death and disability and is usually treated with medication to lower blood pressure and by making changes to the dietary habits of the patient. Lack of sleep is also a potential risk factor for high blood pressure. However, results on this matter have been contradictory so far. We investigated the relationship between sleep characteristics with high blood pressure in a representative Greek population using self-reported questionnaires. Our study revealed that short sleep duration, excessive daytime sleepiness, insomnia, poor sleep quality and high risk of obstructive sleep apnea are associated with increased prevalence of hypertension among younger and middle-aged adults, affecting everyone equally, regardless of sex. Thus, early medical or cognitive behavioral interventions that improve sleep might be necessary in order to reduce high blood pressure and consequently risk of other diseases of the heart and blood vessels.