Relationship between sleep quality and blood pressure level in nurses performing shift work

The aim of the study was to evaluate the quality of sleep in nurses performing shift work in therapeutic and surgical departments and to establish possible relationships between level of blood pressure (BP) and quality of sleep. A total of 20 nurses of the therapeutic departments and 20 nurses of the surgical departments were enrolled in the study. Sleep quality was assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). BP was measured according to the standard protocol using the Korotkoff method; a sphygmomanometer was used for this twice with an interval of 2 min between 10:00 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. The average value for the 2 indicators was calculated. The diagnosis of essential arterial hypertension (AH) was established according to the recommendations of the European Association of Cardiology and the European Association of Hypertension (2018). The overall assessment of the sleep quality of the nurses involved in shift work indicates poor sleep quality; this was true in respondents of both the surgical and therapeutic profiles. However, it was observed that the quality of sleep was significantly lower in nurses of the therapeutic departments. Moreover, poor sleep quality was associated with AH, which was diagnosed in 65% of the nurses of the therapeutic departments and 45% of the nurses of the surgical departments, that is, in almost all of the subjects. Herewith, in the nurses of the therapeutic departments, the level of systolic BP exceeded that of the nurses of the surgical departments. Poor sleep quality is a significant risk factor for AH development and is relevant to nurses performing shift work. Additional clinical studies should be conducted to better understand the mechanisms underlying such adverse cardiometabolic outcomes associated with sleep disorders in the health-sector shift workers.