ARTERIAL HYPERTENSION AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS WITH SLEEP QUALITY

Abstract

Arterial hypertension is one of the most common chronic diseases, significantly affecting human health. It not only impacts the cardiovascular system but can also disrupt sleep, and poor sleep quality can complicate disease management, leading to additional health problems such as depression, and anxiety. Many studies focus only on basic sleep aspects, such as duration or satisfaction, without considering a comprehensive assessment of sleep quality. This study stands out by providing a detailed analysis of the impact of sleep duration, regularity, efficiency, use of sleeping pills, and sleep disturbances on the risk of arterial hypertension.
The aim is to review the scientific literature on arterial hypertension, sleep quality, and their associations.
Materials and Methods. A literature review was conducted, examining scientific articles about the connections between arterial hypertension and sleep quality. Data were collected from the most recent (2019–2024) scientific sources available in the National Library of Medicine (PubMed), Web of Science (Clarivate), and Google Scholar databases. Out of 124 sources, 38 publications that met the established selection criteria were included in the analysis.
Results. The study showed that the prevalence of arterial hypertension depends on age, gender, socioeconomic factors, and the effectiveness of the healthcare system. Sleep quality directly affects the risk of hypertension—poor sleep and disorders such as sleep apnea, as well as short (less than 6 hours) and long (more than 8 hours) sleep, increase blood pressure. Sleep duration, regularity, and efficiency have a direct impact on cardiovascular health, while sleep disturbances and the use of sleeping pills contribute to the risk of hypertension.
Conclusions. Poor sleep quality poses a significant risk for the development and progression of hypertension. Irregular sleep, short sleep duration, and sleep disorders such as obstructive sleep apnea can increase the risk of hypertension.