Association between Insomnia and Hypertension in Japanese Male Workers

Objectives To examine the association between insomnia and hypertension (HT) in Japanese male workers.Design A cross-sectional study using the annual health examination databaase of a Japanese company.Setting N/AParticipants Middle-aged male participants in the 1998 health examination at an employee health management center of a Japanese company (n=21, 151) .Main outcome measures HT defined as systolic blood pressure ≥ 140 mmHg and/or diastolic blood pressure ≥ 90 mmHg.Results The prevalence of HT in the young (<45 years old) and old (≥ 45 years old) age groups was 15.2% (1, 216/7, 988) and 25.1% (3, 303/13, 163), respectively. After adjusting for confounding factors (body mass index, diabetes, sociodemographics/lifestyles, and psychological complains), the odds ratios of “difficulty initiating sleep” and “difficulty maintaining sleep” for HT were 1.12 (95%CI: 0.91-1.38) and 1.22 (95%CI: 1.01-1.47), respectively in the young age group. Meanwhile in the old age group, those were 0.74 (95%CI: 0.64-0.86) and 1.17 (95%CI: 1.04-1.31), respectively.Conclusions Insomnia was independently associated with HT in Japanese male workers, but this association was different by age and subtypes of insomnia.