title: Sleep-disordered breathing and hypertension among African Americans.
abstract: This study investigated differences in sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) between hypertensives without a family history of hypertension and hypertensives with a family history. Furthermore, it examined whether these two groups differed in the severity of SDB. Patients were African Americans (n=162, mean age=51.19+/-13.77 years; mean body mass index (BMI)=37.85+/-9.51 kg/m2, male=57%), who were referred to the clinic because of a sleep complaint. Sleep was recorded in the laboratory using standard physiological parameters; all parameters were analysed by a trained scorer. Altogether, 91% of the patients received an SDB diagnosis. Of these patients, 25% were hypertensives without a family history, 20% were hypertensives with a family history, and 55% were normotensives. We found a significant difference between these patient groups regarding the severity of SDB (F14,158=1.823, P<0.05), but no significant group difference was observed in the rate of SDB. Increasing weight was accompanied by increasing severity of SDB. The finding that hypertensive patients with or without a positive family history showed worse oxygenation and respiratory characteristics than did normotensives is consistent with previous research. Of note, hypertensives reporting a family history were characterized by a greater number of oxygen desaturations and apnoea hypopnoea index than those typified only by a current diagnosis of hypertension. Hypertensives with a family history are likely to show a profile of greater blood pressure, higher BMI, and more severe SDB, which by all accounts are more common among African Americans.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Ophthalmology, SUNY Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY 11203, USA. gjean-louis@downstate.edu
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Jean-Louis
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zizi
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Casimir
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: DiPalma
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mukherji
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001794:Blood Pressure; D001835:Body Weight; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000150:complications* / Q000208:ethnology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008499:Medical Records; D008875:Middle Aged; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012891:Sleep Apnea Syndromes / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology / Q000503:physiopathology