Table 4

The association of REM AHI severity category with incident* systolic and diastolic non-dipping over an average of 6.6 years of follow-up using modified Poisson regression

REM AHI categoryTotal sample
overall N
Incident non-dipping
N (%)
Adjusted relative risk
(95% CI)
Systolic non-dipping (n=199)
 <1738 (11)1.0 (reference)
 1–4.9608 (13)1.27 (0.52 to 3.09)
 5–14.9388 (21)2.00 (0.77 to 5.19)
 ≥152810 (36)2.84 (1.10 to 7.29)
Diastolic non-dipping (n=215)
 <1836 (7)1.0 (reference)
 1–4.9612 (3)0.48 (0.10 to 2.39)
 5–14.9405 (13)1.62 (0.46 to 5.76)
 ≥15317 (23)4.27 (1.20 to 15.13)
  • *Among participants with baseline normal blood pressure dipping and no use of antihypertensive medication, followed over an average of 6.6 years. All models adjusted for age, sex, race, body mass index, waist-to-hip ratio, current smoking, alcohol consumption, and NREM AHI. P-trend for incident systolic and diastolic non-dipping with increasing REM AHI categories were 0.021 and 0.024, respectively.

  • AHI, apnoea hypopnoea index; NREM, non-rapid eye movement; REM, rapid eye movement.