Sleep Duration and Blood Pressure During Sleep

Short sleep duration (SSD), defined as sleeping less than 7 hours per night, affects over 33% of US adults and is associated with increased mortality. SSD is a modifiable risk factor for obesity, type 2 diabetes, and HTN. Cross-sectional studies have demonstrated that SSD is associated with higher sleep BP levels. SSD is also associated with non-dipping BP which is primarily explained by higher sleep BP levels. However, many of the cross-sectional studies have included adolescent participants or have not used reference standard measures of sleep duration such as wrist actigraphy. Manipulating sleep duration experimentally through sleep restriction or deprivation is associated with higher 24-hour and sleep BP levels. In contrast, there is scarce data on the effect of sleep extension on sleep BP levels among adults with SSD. Eligible community individuals with short sleep duration will be randomized to sleep extension vs. control using 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) and actigraphy in the naturalistic environment. Individuals will be assessed throughout the study using questionnaires, activity monitoring via a Fitbit device (for 8 weeks), blood pressure monitoring using a 24-hour ABPM device, and heart rate variability monitoring for 24-hours.