Cardiovascular recovery from stress and hypertension risk factors: a meta-analytic review

Recent research has suggested that cardiovascular recovery from stress can play a potential role in hypertension pathogenesis. Sixty-nine studies were included in a meta-analytic review to evaluate the effect of various hypertension risk factors (e.g., race, lack of exercise) on cardiovascular recovery from stress. Small mean effect sizes were observed for studies examining hypertension status and race as risk factors associated with delayed diastolic blood pressure recovery. Lack of fitness was also associated with delayed heart rate recovery. These results revealed that, for the specified risk factors and cardiovascular variables, high-risk individuals exhibited delayed cardiovascular recovery as compared with low-risk individuals. Further, the relationships between hypertension status, race, and cardiovascular recovery were typically associated with the use of "active" laboratory stressors. The relationship between lack of fitness and cardiovascular recovery was also associated with the use of "active" and exercise laboratory stressors.