Effect of short duration aerobic exercise training on reflection index, stiffness index and pulse wave velocity

The study was aimed to establish the effect of aerobic exercise on reflection index (RI), stiffness index (SI) and brachial finger pulse wave velocity (BFPWV) in healthy subjects of Bangalore, India. Students of 18 to 25 years (males) were recruited according to the inclusion criteria. The subjects were trained on treadmill for a period of 8 weeks, and the above parameters were measured using BIOPAC software and doppler machine. ANOVA of repeated measures was done to see the effect of training on RI, SI and BFPWV with bonferroni correction. There was a significant decrease in above parameters (P<0.0001) compared to basal levels. There was significant correlation between BFPWV and SI (P<0.001). 8 weeks of training showed beneficial effect by reducing BFPWV, SI, and RI and it returned towards baseline after subsequent 4 weeks of detraining. We conclude that changes are because of the effect of aerobic exercise and are reversible.