| Abstract: | Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and short sleep duration are individually
associated with an increased risk for hypertension (HTN). The aim of this
multicenter cross-sectional study was to test the hypothesis of a cumulative
association of OSA severity and short sleep duration with the risk for prevalent
HTN. Among 1,499 patients undergoing polysomnography for suspected OSA, 410
(27.3%) previously diagnosed as hypertensive and taking antihypertensive
medication were considered as having HTN. Patients with total sleep time (TST)
<6 h were considered to be short sleepers. Logistic regression procedures
were performed to determine the independent association of HTN with OSA and
sleep duration. Considering normal sleepers (TST ≥6 h) without OSA as the
reference group, the odds ratio (OR) (95% confidence intervals) for
having HTN was 2.51 (1.35–4.68) in normal sleepers with OSA and 4.37
(2.18–8.78) in short sleepers with OSA after adjustment for age, gender,
obesity, diabetes, depression, current smoking, use of thyroid hormones, daytime
sleepiness, poor sleep complaint, time in bed, sleep architecture and
fragmentation, and study site. The risk for HTN appeared to present a cumulative
association with OSA severity and short sleep duration (p<0.0001 for linear
trend). The higher risk for HTN was observed in short sleepers with severe OSA
(AHI ≥30) (OR, 4.29 2.03–9.07]). In patients investigated
for suspected OSA, sleep-disordered breathing severity and short sleep duration
have a cumulative association with the risk for prevalent HTN. Further studies
are required to determine whether interventions to optimize sleep may contribute
to lower BP in patients with OSA. |
