Hypertension, sleep quality, depression, and cognitive function in elderly: A cross-sectional study

Background: Hypertension, sleep disorders, and depression are highly prevalent in the elderly population and are all associated with cognitive impairment, but the role that sleep quality and depression play in the association between hypertension and cognitive impairment is unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate whether sleep quality and depression have a mediating role in the association between hypertension and cognitive impairment.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted to collect data from the Tongji Hospital Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment Database. Sleep quality, depression and cognitive function were measured by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15) and the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), respectively. Correlation analysis, regression analysis and Bootstrap analysis were used to examine correlations between key variables and mediating effects of sleep quality and depression. Adjustments for multiple comparisons were performed using Benjamini-Hochberg adjustment for multiple testing.

Results: A total of 827 participants were included, hypertension was present in 68.3% of the sample. After correcting for covariates, hypertensive patients aged 65 years or older had worse cognitive function, poorer-sleep quality and higher levels of depression. Sleep quality was significantly negatively associated with depression and cognitive function, while depression was negatively associated with cognitive function. Mediation analysis revealed that hypertension can affect cognitive function in older adults through a single mediating effect of sleep quality and depression and a chain mediating effect of sleep quality and depression.

Conclusion: This study found that sleep quality and depression can mediate the relationship between hypertension and cognitive function in elderly. Enhanced supervision of sleep quality and depression in elderly patients with hypertension may be beneficial in maintaining cognitive function.