Associations Between Caffeinated Beverage Consumption and Blood Pressure Parameters in Nurses Based on 24‐Hour Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring: A Cross‐Sectional Study
Suzhi Zhang, Jie Liu, Huiling Liu, Wenjia Liu, Ni Chen, Yufang Zhu, Yaping Wang, Xiaolin Zhang, Bin ZhaoABSTRACT
Background and Aims
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.
Methods
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.
Results
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).
Conclusion
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.