Key result
Daily physical activity and central adiposity predicted exercise blood pressure responses in older women (cumulative r2 = 0.53, p<0.05), whereas age and peak leg vasodilation were predictors in men.
Why the study?
What are the sex-specific predictors of blood pressure responses to graded leg-extension exercise in healthy older adults?
Cross-Sectional (n=40)
What are the sex-specific predictors of blood pressure responses to graded leg-extension exercise in healthy older adults?
Determinants of submaximal exercise blood pressure responses in older adults are sex-specific, with daily physical activity being a key predictor in women but not men.
Sex-specific predictors of exercise BP responses in older adults are hypothesis-generating; prospective studies needed before clinical consideration.
The authors examined interindividual and sex-specific variation in systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressure responses to graded leg-extension exercise in healthy older (60-78 yr) women (n = 21) and men (n = 19). Maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max), body composition, physical activity (accelerometry), and vascular function were measured to identify predictors of exercise BP. Neither VO2max nor activity counts were associated with the rise in SBP or DBP during exercise in men. The strongest predictors of these responses in men were age (SBP: r2 = .19, p = .05) and peak exercise leg vasodilation (DBP: r2 = -.21, p < .05). In women, the modest relationship observed between VO2max and exercise BP was abolished after adjusting for central adiposity and activity counts (best predictors, cumulative r2 = .53, p < .05, for both SBP and DBP). These results suggest that determinants of variation in submaximal exercise BP responses among older adults are sex specific, with daily physical activity influencing these responses in women but not men.
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Gonzales et al. (2011) conducted a cross-sectional in Healthy (n=40). Daily physical activity was evaluated on Systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressure responses to graded leg-extension exercise (Women SBP/DBP: cumulative r2 = .53; Men SBP: r2 = .19, Men DBP: r2 = -.21, p=<0.05). Daily physical activity and central adiposity predicted exercise blood pressure responses in older women (cumulative r2 = 0.53, p<0.05), whereas age and peak leg vasodilation were predictors in men.
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