The relationship between hypertension and nocturnal waking in community-dwelling elderly individuals.

AIM: This study aimed to clarify the relationship between hypertension and nocturnal waking among community-dwelling elderly individuals.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The survey was performed by asking questions related to the basic attributes, lifestyle, sleep conditions and the health status of 422 elderly individuals who belonged to elderly clubs. The subjects were divided into a hypertension group and a non-hypertension group. The data were analyzed using Spearman's rank correlation coefficient and a logistic regression analysis.

RESULTS: Two hundred of the 422 elderly individuals responded to the questions (response rate: 47.4%). The rate of obesity in the hypertension group was significantly higher (p=.01) than that in the non-hypertension group. The logistic regression analysis revealed that hypertension was associated with the BMI (OR=1.148, 95%CI: 1.022-1.289) and the number of nocturnal waking episodes (OR=1.449, 95%CI: 1.015-2.067). In the hypertension group, the number of nocturnal waking episodes was significantly correlated with age (rs=0.232), and the performance of volunteer activities was associated with a decreased number of nocturnal waking episodes (rs=-0.356).

CONCLUSIONS: It was shown that nocturnal waking and obesity were strongly associated with hypertension. The performance of volunteer activities was also correlated a decrease in the number of nocturnal waking episodes. Further studies should be performed to investigate the relationship between hypertension, the number of nocturnal waking episodes and sympathetic nerve activity. A greater number of physiological activities should be evaluated and the volunteer activities in which the elderly people participated should be precisely analyzed.