Non-dipping blood pressure pattern in pediatricians during on-duty
Javier Gonzalez-Garcia1, Juan Mayordomo-Colunga2, Manuel Gorostidi3
1Department of Pediatrics, Hospital Universitario de Cabueñes, Gijon, Spain.
Introduction:
People with a reduced nighttime dip in blood pressure have an increased cardiovascular risk. Our objective was to describe the different patterns in blood pressure (BP) among pediatricians who work in long on-duty shifts in relation with sex, medical rank and sleeping time.
Methods:
Descriptive, cross-sectional, two-center study. On duty pediatric Resident physicians and pediatric Consultants were recruited between January 2018 and December 2021.
Results:
Fifty-one physicians were included in the study (78.4% female, 66.7% Resident physicians). Resident physicians had a higher night/day ratio (0.91 vs 0.85; p<0.001) and a shorter nighttime period (3.87 vs 5.41, p<0.001) than Consultants. Physicians sleeping less than 5h had a higher night/day ratio (0.91 vs 0.87, p=0.014). Being a Resident showed a ∼4.5-fold increased risk of having a non-dipping BP pattern compared to Consultants.
Conclusion:
We found a potential link between both being a Resident and, probably, having shorter sleeping time, and the non-dipping BP pattern in physicians during prolonged shifts.
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