Sleep Patterns in Adolescents with Hypertension

Abstract

Background: There is growing evidence that psychological stress contributes to hypertension and leads to changes in sleep structure. Insufficient sleep may lead to cardiovascular disease. Thus, the aim of this study was to explore specific sleep patterns in adolescents with hypertension. Methods: The study population consisted of 35 young patients (14–17 years old): 20 adolescents with hypertension and 15 healthy adolescents. Polysomnography (PSG) was performed on all patients. Results: Statistical analysis showed significant changes of sleep patterns in the hypertensive adolescents compared to the normotensive adolescents. Hypertension was associated with significantly decreased slow wave sleep (16.86±0.3 versus 22.7±0.3%; P<0.05) and increased REM (23.1±0.2 versus 30.75±0.2%; P<0.05). At the same time, sleep latency increased compared to subjects without hypertension (27.2±0.3 versus 11.2±0.4min, P<0.05). Wake time after sleep onset (WASO) was also significantly (19.1±0.2 versus 5.9±0.3min, P <0.05) longer than in healthy adolescents, which led to reduced sleep duration. Conclusion: These results suggest that these kinds of sleep deviations are closely associated with some adaptive reaction to prolonged exposure of psychogenic factors in the hypertensive adolescents.

Keywords

• sleep;
• polysomnograph;
• dolescents;
• hypertension.;