The impact of sleep on ambulatory blood pressure of female caregivers providing home care in Japan: an observational study.

BACKGROUND Elderly family caregivers are presumed to be susceptible to having various health problems. However, biomedical indicators of health in these caregivers are rarely examined. OBJECTIVE To examine the effect of sleep quality, measured by hours of sleep and the number of times leaving bed, on various blood pressure parameters in elderly caregivers. DESIGN Observational study. SETTING Northern Japan. PARTICIPANTS Seventy-eight female family caregivers. METHODS Ambulatory blood pressure was monitored at 30-60-min intervals for a 24-h period. An actigraph was used to determine sleep/wake status. Face-to-face interviews were conducted to obtain home care and demographic information, and self-administered questionnaires were used to collect information on activities in a 24-h period. RESULTS The mean age of the caregivers was 62.5+/-9.6 years, and the mean hours of sleep were 7.3. Out of 78 caregivers, 19 were on antihypertensive medication. Of the remaining 59, this study found 45.8% to be hypertensive, with the mean maximum systolic pressure exceeding 180mmHg. The hours of sleep at night and for the 24-h period were inversely associated with the mean systolic blood pressure. The majority of caregivers on antihypertensive medication also had high blood pressure. CONCLUSIONS This study suggests the importance of 24-h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring for elderly caregivers, so as to screen for hypertension as well as to monitor the effectiveness of antihypertensive medication.