Higher nighttime blood pressure (BP), less BP dipping, and higher BP variability have been linked with worse cognitive function in the elderly. The goal of this study is to explore whether this relationship already exists in early and middle adulthood. We further examined whether ethnic differences between African Americans and European Americans in BP parameters can explain ethnic differences in cognitive function. 24-h ambulatory BP monitoring and cognitive function were obtained from 390 participants (average age: 37.2 years with a range of 25–50; 54.9% African Americans; 63.6% females). We observed that higher nighttime BP, decreased dipping, and higher variability were significantly associated with lower scores on the Picture Sequence Memory Test. Significant negative associations between variability and overall composite scores were also observed. No significant associations between average 24-h or daytime BP and cognitive function were observed. Ethnic differences in nighttime diastolic pressures and dipping can explain 6.81% to 10.8% of the ethnicity difference in the score of the Picture Sequence Memory Test (ps < .05). This study suggests that the associations of nighttime BP, dipping, and variability with cognitive function already exist in young and middle-aged adults. Ethnic differences in nighttime BP and dipping can at least partially explain ethnic differences in cognitive function. The stronger association of these parameters with cognitive function than daytime or average BP in this age range raises the importance of using ambulatory BP monitoring for more precise detection of abnormal BP patterns in young adulthood.

中文翻译：

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早中年成人夜间血压下降、血压变异性与认知功能

夜间血压 (BP) 较高、血压下降较少和血压变异性较高与老年人认知功能较差有关。本研究的目的是探讨这种关系在成年早期和中期是否已经存在。我们进一步研究了非裔美国人和欧洲裔美国人在血压参数上的种族差异是否可以解释认知功能的种族差异。 390 名参与者（平均年龄：37.2 岁，范围为 25-50 岁；54.9% 非裔美国人；63.6% 女性）获得了 24 小时动态血压监测和认知功能。我们观察到，较高的夜间血压、较低的血压下降和较高的变异性与图片序列记忆测试的较低分数显着相关。还观察到变异性和总体综合得分之间存在显着的负相关。未观察到平均 24 小时或白天血压与认知功能之间存在显着关联。夜间舒张压和下降的种族差异可以解释图片序列记忆测试分数中 6.81% 至 10.8% 的种族差异 ( p s < .05)。这项研究表明，夜间血压、血压下降和变异性与认知功能的关联在年轻人和中年人中已经存在。夜间血压和血压下降的种族差异至少可以部分解释认知功能的种族差异。这些参数与认知功能的关联性比该年龄范围内的白天或平均血压的关联性更强，这提高了使用动态血压监测来更精确地检测青年期异常血压模式的重要性。