Prevalence of Poor Sleep Quality in Patients With Hypertension in China: A Meta-analysis of Comparative Studies and Epidemiological Surveys

Objective: This meta-analysis examined the prevalence of poor sleep quality and its associated factors in patients with hypertension in China.

Methods: Both English (PubMed, PsycINFO, EMBASE) and Chinese (Wan Fang Database and Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure) databases were systematically and independently searched. The random-effects model was used to estimate the prevalence of poor sleep quality in Chinese patients with hypertension. The funnel plot and Egger's tests were used to assess publication bias.

Results: The prevalence of poor sleep quality in 24 studies with 13,920 hypertensive patients was 52.5% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 46.1-58.9%). In contrast, the prevalence of poor sleep quality in six studies with 5,610 healthy control subjects was 32.5% (95% CI: 19.0-49.7%). In these studies, compared to healthy controls, the pooled odds ratio (OR) of poor sleep quality was 2.66 (95% CI: 1.80-3.93) for hypertensive patients. Subgroup and meta-regression analyses revealed that patients in hospitals were more likely to have poor sleep quality than patients in the community. Studies with smaller sample size, studies using convenience or consecutive sampling and those published in Chinese reported higher prevalence of poor sleep quality. Furthermore, poor sleep quality was more common in older and male hypertensive patients, while the proportion of poor sleep quality was negatively associated with survey year.

Conclusion: Appropriate strategies for screening, prevention, and treatment of poor sleep quality in this population should be developed.