Daily Movement Matters: Post-Exercise Hypotension in Peripheral Arterial Disease-A Quasi-Experimental Pilot Study

Area of Science:

• Cardiovascular Exercise Physiology
• Vascular Health Research

Background:

• Aerobic and resistance exercise acutely impact blood pressure (BP) in peripheral arterial disease (PAD) patients.
• The combined effects of concurrent exercise sessions on BP in PAD are not well-documented.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the acute effects of a combined walking and circuit-based training session on BP in individuals with PAD.

Main Methods:

• 13 PAD patients (65.0 ± 10.2 years) completed supervised exercise therapy (SET) including walking and circuit training.
• Clinic systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressure were measured pre- and post-session.
• Repeated-measures ANOVA and chi-square tests analyzed longitudinal and categorical BP changes.

Main Results:

• Each exercise session acutely reduced clinic SBP by 4.87 mmHg (p < 0.001) and DBP by 2.11 mmHg (p < 0.001).
• No significant differences in BP reduction were found between early (sessions 1-10) and late (sessions 14-24) stages of the SET intervention.

Conclusions:

• An acute exercise session combining walking and circuit training effectively lowers BP in PAD patients.
• While BP is reduced acutely, the full SET intervention did not demonstrate cumulative BP reductions over time.