The Association Between Habitual Sleep Duration and Blood Pressure Control in United States (US) Adults with Hypertension

PURPOSE: This study examined the relationship between habitual sleep duration and blood pressure (BP) control in adults with hypertension. METHODS: This cross-sectional study used data of 5163 adults with hypertension obtained from the 2015–2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Multivariable logistic regression was used to analyze the association between habitual sleep duration and BP control. Habitual sleep duration was self-reported and defined as the amount of sleep usually obtained in a night or main sleep period during weekdays or workdays. It was categorized as <6, 6 - <7, 7–9, and >9 hours. BP control was defined as average systolic BP <130mmHg and diastolic BP <80mmHg. RESULTS: Results from the fully adjusted models show that among all adults with hypertension, habitual sleep duration of <6 hours night/main sleep period was associated with reduced odds of BP control (OR = 0.53, 95% CI: 0ss.37–0.76, P = 0.001) when compared to 7–9 hours. In the subpopulation of adults who were on antihypertensive medication, those with a sleep duration of <6 hours had lower odds of BP control than those with a sleep duration of 7–9 hours (OR = 0.53, 95% CI: 0.36–0.77, P = 0.002). No significant differences were noted in all adults with hypertension and in the subpopulation of those on antihypertensive medication in BP control between the reference sleep duration group (7–9 hours) and the 6 - <7 or >9 hours groups. There were no significant differences across age groups or gender in the relationship between habitual sleep duration and BP control. CONCLUSION: Sleep duration of <6 hours is associated with reduced odds of hypertension control. These significant findings indicate that interventions to support adequate habitual sleep duration may be a promising addition to the current hypertension management guidelines.