Non-dipping blood pressure pattern in pediatricians during on-duty

Abstract

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.

Keywords: Guardia; Hipertensión; Hypertension; No dipper; Non-dipping; Pediatras; Pediatricians; Shift.