Short naps and limited sleep hours at night tied to hypertension and cardiovascular disease

The researchers concluded that short sleep duration and high siesta ratio increase the risk of hypertension.

In males ≥ 60 years, a high siesta ratio is tied to higher hypertension risk, and in males < 60 years, short sleep duration is linked to increased hypertension risk.

The study has mentioned short siesta duration, sleep duration at night, and total sleep duration correlate with an increased risk of CVDs.

In females ≥ 60 years, short sleep duration at night and total sleep duration are related to increased risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). In females < 60 years, short siesta duration and sleep duration at night increase CVD risk.

There is an unclarity on whether siesta duration (ratio) in the total sleep duration is associated with hypertension or cardiovascular diseases.

Dr Ling Lin, with a team of researchers, explored the associations of siesta and siesta ratio with hypertension or CVDs in middle-aged and older adults.

The cohort study collected data from 9247 middle-aged and older adults. The associations with hypertension and CVD were analyzed in 7619 and 8685 participants using univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis.

The results of the study are:

• Total sleep duration < 6 h, OR= 1.168 and siesta ratios ≥ 0.4, OR = 1.712 were associated with increased hypertension risk.
• A siesta ratio ≥ 0.4 was associated with increased hypertension risk in males aged ≥ 60 years.
• In males < 60 years, the total sleep duration < 6 h was correlated with elevated hypertension risk.
• Siesta duration < 0.5 h (OR = 2.053) was related to elevated CVDs risk.
• In females ≥60 years, the sleep duration at night < 6 h increased CVDs risk.
• In females < 60, an increased risk was observed with siesta duration < 0.5 h and sleep duration at night < 6 h.

To conclude, the study's findings are a reference for the siesta and sleep duration in people aged ≥ 45 years.

The future goal of the team is to explore the associations between sleep quality and the risk of arterial hypertension and CVDs.

Further reading:

Lin, L., Huang, J., Liu, Z., Chen, P., & Huang, C. (2022). Associations of siesta and total sleep duration with hypertension or cardiovascular diseases in middle‐aged and older adults. Clinical Cardiology. https://doi.org/10.1002/clc.23954.