Association of Sleep Duration and Blood Pressure in Adolescents: A Multicenter Study

Abstract

Background: Evidence suggests that sleep duration is related to blood pressure (BP), but the findings are still inconsistent for adolescents.

Objective: To analyze the association between sleep duration and BP in Brazilian adolescents between 12 and 17 years of age.

Methods: This study is part of the Study of Cardiovascular Risk in Adolescents (ERICA), a multicenter, school-based, cross-sectional study in 273 municipalities in Brazil. The sample consisted of 65,643 adolescents. Sleep duration was measured by a subjective method, and BP was measured by the oscillometric method. Multiple linear regression analyses were performed to evaluate the association between sleep duration and BP.

Results: The mean sleep duration was 8.14 hours (± 1.40), with significant difference between the groups according to BP levels (P < 0.0001). The mean systolic and diastolic BP were 110.59 (± 11.87) and 65.85 (± 7.94) mm Hg, respectively, in the group of adolescents. Sleep duration was significantly associated with BP. Each increase 1 hour in sleep was associated with BP reduction in both sexes combined (P < 0.0001). Considering the effects of covariates, each increase 1 hour in sleep was associated with systolic BP (SBP) reduction among boys (P = 0.004) and SBP elevation among girls (P = 0.009), after full adjustment.

Conclusion: The results suggest that each increase in sleep duration was associated with SBP elevation among girls. Such findings may have important implications for cardiovascular health in adolescence.

Keywords: adolescent; association; blood pressure; hypertension; sleep duration.