Assessment of Nocturnal Blood Pressure: Importance of Determining the Time in Bed—A Pilot Study

Abstract

Objectives: Nocturnal blood pressure (BP) monitoring is essential for evaluating cardiovascular risk and guiding treatment decisions. However, the standardized narrow-fixed nighttime period between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. may not accurately reflect individual sleep schedules. This pilot study aimed to investigate the comparability between the standardized nighttime period and actual time in bed (TIB) regarding BP assessment. Further, our goal was to evaluate the clinical relevance of the observed BP differences. Methods: A total of 30 participants underwent 24 h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM). Patient-specific TIB was precisely assessed through an accelerometer and a position sensor from the SOMNOtouch NIBP™ (SOMNOmedics GmbH, Randersacker, Germany). We analysed the effect of considering individual TIB as nighttime instead of the conventional narrow-fixed interval on the resulting nocturnal BP levels and dipping patterns. Results: We observed differences in both systolic and diastolic BP between the standardized nighttime period and the TIB. Furthermore, a notable percentage of patients (27%) changed their dipping pattern classification as a function of the nighttime definition adopted. We found strong correlations between the start (r = 0.75, p < 0.01), as well as the duration (r = −0.42, p = 0.02) of TIB and the changes in dipping pattern classification. Conclusions: Definition of nocturnal period based on the individual TIB leads to clinically relevant changes of nocturnal BP and dipping pattern classifications. TIB is easily detected using a body position sensor and accelerometer. This approach may thus improve the accuracy of cardiovascular risk evaluation and enhance treatment strategies.