Blood pressure response to the Canadian Aerobic Fitness Test

Persons who are normotensive or borderline hypertensive at rest but who have an exaggerated blood pressure response to exercise incur a higher risk of developing sustained hypertension. Our purpose was to develop provisional norms for immediate post-exercise blood pressure responses to the Canadian Aerobic Fitness Test (CAFT) for men and women 20-69 years and to recommend threshold values for exercise hypertension. We studied 986 males and females. Blood pressure criteria for inclusion were less than 150/100 mmHg for men and less than 160/100 mmHg for women. The blood pressure values for the 3 stages of the CAFT specific to each age group and sex were appropriately summarized for each workload. An exaggerated blood pressure to exercise was defined as the mean + 1 SD while a grossly exaggerated blood pressure was defined as the mean + 2 SD. As such, the following values are recommended as criteria for the first stage of the CAFT regardless of age: Men: exaggerated response greater than or equal to 170 mmHg, grossly exaggerated, greater than or equal to 190 mmHg; women greater than or equal to 160 mmHg and 180 mmHg respectively. The delta SBP (exercise SBP minus resting SBP) at the first stage of the CAFT could also be utilized to identify persons who demonstrate an abnormal pressure response to exercise. An increase of 10 mmHg above resting diastolic pressure at any stage of exercise should also be cause for concern and counselling.