Sleep Duration, Shift Work, and Hypertension: Analysis of the National Health Interview Survey

Introduction:The purpose of this study was to investigate whether short sleepers (<6hrs) working the night shift are at greater risk of reporting hypertension and to explore whether race/ethnicity affected those associations.Methods: Analysis was based on the 2010 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), providing self-reported work schedule, a diagnosis of hypertension, and estimated habitual sleep durations. A total of 65,919 American adults provided valid data (mean age=46.2 ±17.7 years; 52.7% were female). The NHIS is a cross-sectional household interview survey utilizing a multistage area probability design. During face-to-face interviews, personnel from the US Census Bureau used computer-assisted personal interviewing. Respondents provided anthropometric and sociodemographic data and information regarding physician-diagnosed chronic conditions. Results: Of the sample, 32.6% reported hypertension; 95.3%, regular daytime schedule and 4.7%, regular night shift. Logistic regression analysis indicated that black night shift-workers were at higher risk of reporting hypertension than blacks who reported working a daytime schedule [OR=1.16, 95%CI: 1.15-1.16; p<0.001]. Adjusted analyses showed white and black short sleepers working the night shift had a higher risk of hypertension than day shift-workers [OR=1.39, 95%CI: 1.39-1.39; OR=1.72, 95%CI: 1.71-1.73; p<0.001]. Analyses showed short sleepers working the night shift were 22% more likely to report hypertension [OR=1.22, 95%CI: 1.22-1.23; p<0.001]. Analyses also showed that black short sleepers working the night shift were at considerably greater risk than their white counterparts [OR=1.96, 95%CI: 1.95-1.97; p<0.001]. Conclusion: Short sleepers who reported working the night shift may be at increased risk of having hypertension. Black short sleepers may be at relatively greater risk.