title: Characterization of insomnia in patients with essential hypertension.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Insomnia may increase risk of cardiovascular events. There is little data available reporting the prevalence and clinical relevance of insomnia in patients with essential hypertension. Therefore, the aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between insomnia and different clinical and biochemical parameters in essential hypertension patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Four hundred and thirty-two patients (mean age 47+/-13 years; 253 male, 179 female) with essential hypertension were screened for insomnia using the athens Insomnia Scale (AIS). Several variables including age, sex, known duration of hypertension, body mass index, creatinine, left ventricular mass index, coexisting disorders, smoking status and alcohol use were analysed. Twenty-four-hour ambulatory blood pressure measurements (ABPM) were performed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among patients included in the study, 207 subjects (mean age: 49+/-13 years; 47.9%) had an AIS score of 15 or higher and were identified as insomniacs. Insomnia was more frequent in women than in men (60.9% vs 38.7%, p<0.001) and was reported more frequently in patients with coronary artery disease. Subjects with insomnia were older and had longer duration of hypertension. There were no differences between insomniacs and non-insomniacs in ABPM parameters. A relationship was found between the number of antihypertensive drugs and insomnia frequency. There were correlation between AIS score and age (r=0.21; p<0.001) and duration of hypertension (r=0.22; p<0.001). In the sub-group of untreated essential hypertension patients, there were negative correlations between AIS score and night fall in systolic and diastolic blood pressure.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results showed that insomnia is common in patients with essential hypertension and indicate an association between insomnia and gender, known duration of hypertension and number of hypertensive drugs taken. Untreated essential hypertension insomniacs were characterized by less pronounced nocturnal fall in both systolic and diastolic blood pressure compared with non-insomniacs.
authors.affiliation: Department o Hypertension, Institute of Cardiology, Warsaw, Poland. prejbisz@vp.pl
authors.forename: Aleksander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Prejbisz
authors.forename: Marek
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kabat
authors.forename: Andrzej
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Januszewicz
authors.forename: Waldemar
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Szelenberger
authors.forename: Anna J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Piotrowska
authors.forename: Walerian
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Piotrowski
authors.forename: Jerzy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Piwoński
authors.forename: Magdalena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Makowiecka-Cieśla
authors.forename: Krystyna
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Widecka
authors.forename: Bozena
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Patera
authors.forename: Leszek
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bieniaszewski
authors.forename: Krzysytof
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Narkiewicz
authors.forename: Andrzej
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tykarski
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Piejko
authors.forename: Tomasz
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Grodzicki
authors.forename: Beata
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Czerwieńska
authors.forename: Andrzej
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wiecek
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000959:Antihypertensive Agents / Q000009:adverse effects; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology*; D018660:Blood Pressure Monitoring, Ambulatory / Q000379:methods; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012737:Sex Factors; D007319:Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D000959:Antihypertensive Agents