Key result
Exercise interventions significantly reduce short-term systolic and diastolic BPV versus no exercise.
Why the study?
Elevated blood pressure variability is an emerging independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease, but whether exercise can effectively control short-term and long-term blood pressure variability remains to be determined.
Do exercise interventions reduce short-term and long-term blood pressure variability compared to no exercise?
Meta-Analysis
Do exercise interventions reduce short-term and long-term blood pressure variability compared to no exercise?
Exercise, particularly aerobic exercise, effectively reduces short-term systolic and diastolic blood pressure variability, which may help mitigate cardiovascular risk.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
Supports exercise to lower BPV-linked CV risk; extends prior mean-BP data to variability endpoints.
Elevated blood pressure variability (BPV) is an emerging independent risk factor for increased cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Many studies are exploring the impacts of regular physical exercise on reducing BPV. This study aimed to investigate whether exercise can be an intervention to control for the short‐term and long‐term BPV. A literature search was conducted on MEDLINE, Embase, and PsycINFO on February 10, 2025. The clinical trials and other observational studies that investigated the effects of exercise on systolic and diastolic BPV were included. There were no limitations on age, blood pressure (BP) category, or the use of antihypertensive medication. Mean differences and standard deviations (SDs) of the BPV measurements were extracted to derive standardized mean differences (SMD) with a 95% confidence interval (CI). The heterogeneity was assessed by I 2, and random‐effect models were performed. Our search identified 8359 studies, of which 25 studies reported BPV outcomes. Fifteen clinical trials compared the short‐term BPV among participants with or without exercise. Exercise interventions can significantly reduce both systolic BPV (SMD [95% CI] = −0.37[−0.61 to −0.12]) and diastolic BPV (−0.48 [−0.72 to −0.23]). The benefits are stronger for those with hypertension. Different types of exercise were compared in the network meta‐analyses, and aerobic exercise showed more benefits than other types of exercise to improve BPV, especially on the diastolic BPV when it was compared with no exercise (−2.52 [−4.05 to −0.99]). No evidence was observed for the long‐term BPV. Exercise interventions effectively reduce the variability of both systolic and diastolic blood pressure (DBP). Aerobic exercise is shown to be more effective in reducing diastolic BPV versus no exercise.
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Hao et al. (2025) conducted a meta-analysis in Elevated blood pressure variability. Exercise (aerobic, resistance, and isometric) vs. No exercise was evaluated on Short-term systolic and diastolic blood pressure variability (SMD -0.37 (systolic) and -0.48 (diastolic), 95% CI -0.61 to -0.12 (systolic) and -0.72 to -0.23 (diastolic)). Exercise interventions reduced short-term systolic and diastolic BPV compared to no exercise.
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