Gender- and age-specific associations between sleep duration and prevalent hypertension in middle-aged and elderly Chinese: a cross-sectional study from CHARLS 2011-2012.
The impact of gender and age on the association between sleep duration and hypertension is not well known in Asians. The objective of this study was to analyse gender- and age-specific associations between sleep duration and prevalent hypertension in middle-aged and elderly Chinese.



Secondary analysis of a cohort sample.



This study used data from the national baseline survey of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS, 2011-2012), covering 150 counties/districts and 450 villages/resident committees from 28 provinces in China.



Community-based subjects were drawn from the CHARLS through multistage probability sampling. Overall, this study included 9086 eligible subjects aged 45 years or above.



Self-reported sleep duration was obtained using a structured questionnaire. The mean of three measures of systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure was calculated. By gender and age groups (45-60 years, middle-aged; ≥60 years, elderly), relationships between self-reported sleep duration and prevalent hypertension were examined using logistic regression models to estimate OR and 95% CIs.



Compared with the reference group (≥7 and <8 hours/night), the group who had less sleep (<6 hours/night) had a higher likelihood of hypertension in the whole sample (OR 1.26, 95% CI 1.04 to 1.52). Significant ORs (95% CIs) of hypertension were 1.68 (1.17 to 2.42), 1.69 (1.11 to 2.59) and 2.21 (1.29 to 3.80) for <6, 6-7 (≥6 and <7) and 8-9 (≥8 and <9) hours/night, respectively, in middle-aged men but not women. Interestingly, a significant association was observed between long sleep duration (≥9 hours/night) and hypertension in middle-aged women (OR 1.55, 95% CI 1.02 to 2.35) but not in men.



Extremes of sleep duration increased the likelihood of prevalent hypertension in middle-aged Chinese depending on gender, suggesting that appropriate strategies for improvement in sleep health are required.
Department of Public Health, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
Jing
J
Guo
Department of Public Health, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
Yue
Y
Fei
Institute of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
Junqin
J
Li
Department of Neurology, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
Lisan
L
Zhang
Institute of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
Qiong
Q
Luo
Department of Public Health, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
Guangdi
G
Chen
D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001794:Blood Pressure; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016014:Linear Models; D016015:Logistic Models; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D057566:Self Report; D012737:Sex Factors; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology*; D013997:Time Factors
EPIDEMIOLOGY; PUBLIC HEALTH; SLEEP MEDICINE