Associations of Sleep Quality and Awake Physical Activity with Fluctuations in Nocturnal Blood Pressure in Patients with Cardiovascular Risk Factors

BACKGROUND Sleep quality and awake physical activity are important behavioral factors involved in the occurrence of cardiovascular diseases, potentially through nocturnal blood pressure (BP) changes. However, the impacts of quantitatively measured sleep quality and awake physical activity on BP fluctuation, and their relationships with several candidate causal factors for nocturnal hypertension are not well elucidated. METHODS This cross-sectional study included 303 patients registered in the HSCAA study. Measurements included quantitatively determined sleep quality parameters and awake physical activity obtained by actigraph, nocturnal systolic BP (SBP) fall [100 × (1- sleep SBP/awake SBP ratio)], apnea hypopnea index, urinary sodium and cortisol secretion, plasma aldosterone concentration and renin activity, insulin resistance index, parameters of heart rate variability (HRV), and plasma brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). RESULTS Simple regression analysis showed that time awake after sleep onset (r = -0.150), a parameter of sleep quality, and awake physical activity (r = 0.164) were significantly correlated with nocturnal SBP fall. Among those, time awake after sleep onset (β = -0.179) and awake physical activity (β = 0.190) were significantly and independently associated with nocturnal SBP fall in multiple regression analysis. In a subgroup of patients without taking anti-hypertensive medications, both time awake after sleep onset (β = -0.336) and awake physical activity (β = 0.489) were more strongly and independently associated with nocturnal SBP falls. CONCLUSION Sleep quality and awake physical activity were found to be significantly associated with nocturnal SBP fall, and that relationship was not necessarily confounded by candidate causal factors for nocturnal hypertension.