Associations Between Caffeinated Beverage Consumption and Blood Pressure Parameters in Nurses Based on 24-Hour...

Nurses frequently consume caffeinated beverages to manage fatigue, but their associations with ambulatory blood pressure are unclear. This cross-sectional study examined associations between caffeinated coffee, tea, and energy drinks and blood pressure parameters in nurses.

A total of 335 nurses from a tertiary hospital completed questionnaires on beverage consumption (past month and during 24-h monitoring) and underwent 24-h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring. Blood pressure levels (24-h, awake, asleep) and short-term blood pressure variability were measured. Generalized linear regression was employed to analyze associations between beverage consumption and blood pressure, with Benjamini-Hochberg FDR correction (q < 0.10) for exploratory analyses.

Before correction, several coffee/tea patterns and energy drinks were associated with blood pressure levels or blood pressure variability (p < 0.05). After FDR correction, three associations remained statistically significant: medium-frequency high-volume coffee (β = 4.951, 95% CI: 1.714-8.188, p = 0.003) and high-frequency high-volume coffee (β = 3.599, 95% CI: 1.057-6.142, p = 0.005) were positively associated with short-term systolic blood pressure variability; high-frequency low-volume coffee was positively associated with asleep mean systolic blood pressure (β = 10.680, 95% CI: 3.920-17.439, p = 0.002). Observed differences ranged from approximately 3-5 mmHg, with a 10 mmHg effect for the asleep BP association. These observed differences (3-5 mmHg) are considered clinically meaningful in the context of population-level cardiovascular risk. All other associations (e.g., tea, energy drinks) were no longer significant after correction (q ≥ 0.10).

Specific high-volume coffee patterns (medium- and high-frequency) were associated with increased short-term systolic BPV, while high-frequency low-volume coffee was associated with higher asleep systolic blood pressure. Other exploratory findings did not survive FDR correction. These results are exploratory and require prospective validation.