Insomnia did not predict incident hypertension in older adults in the cardiovascular health study.
OBJECTIVE
We hypothesized that the sleep complaints of insomnia predict incident hypertension, particularly in African Americans. The purpose of this study was to analyze insomnia complaints as predictors of incident hypertension in the Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS), stratifying by gender and allowing for race and sleep variable interaction.


METHODS
This is a prospective cohort study over a 6-year period of follow-up.


METHODS
This is a community-based study of participants in Forsyth County, North Carolina; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Sacramento County, California; and Washington County, Maryland.


METHODS
The study analyzed data from 1419 older individuals (baseline mean age 73.4 +/- 4.4 years) from the Cardiovascular Health Study who were not hypertensive at baseline.


METHODS
none.


METHODS
We constructed relative risks of incident hypertension over a 6-year period for insomnia complaints singly and in combination.


RESULTS
Difficulty falling asleep, singly or in combination with other sleep complaints, predicted a statistically significant reduction of risk for incident hypertension for non-African American men in 6 years of follow-up. Insomnia complaints did not predict incident hypertension in 6 years of follow-up in women or in African Americans, although there may not have been enough power to show a significant association for African Americans.


CONCLUSIONS
Insomnia did not predict hypertension in this older cohort which was free of hypertension at baseline. Difficulty falling asleep was associated with reduced risk of hypertension in non-African American men.
Phillips
Barbara
B
Department of Internal Medicine, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Lexington, KY, USA. Rfphil1@uky.edu
Bůzková
Petra
P
Enright
Paul
P
D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000368:Aged; D015331:Cohort Studies; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D007319:Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology; D014481:United States; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*