Ambulatory Blood Pressure and Cardiovascular Outcome in Relation to Perceived Sleep Deprivation

Sleep deprivation induced by cuff inflations during overnight blood pressure (BP) monitoring might interfere with the prognostic significance of nighttime BP. In 2934 initially untreated hypertensive subjects, we assessed the perceived quantity of sleep during overnight BP monitoring. Overall, 58.7%, 27.7%, 9.7%, and 4.0% of subjects reported a sleep duration perceived as usual (group A), 4 hours less than usual (group D). Daytime BP did not differ across the groups (all P s not significant). Nighttime BP increased from group A to D (124/75, 126/76, 128/77, and 129/79 mm Hg, respectively; all P s for trend 10% compared with those with a greater day–night BP drop in the group with perceived sleep duration as usual or P P s not significant). In a Cox model, the independent prognostic value of nighttime BP for total cardiovascular end points and all-cause mortality disappeared in the subjects with perceived sleep deprivation ≥2 hours. In conclusion, nighttime BP rises and loses its prognostic significance in the hypertensive subjects who perceive a sleep deprivation by ≥2 hours during overnight monitoring.