Aerobic-Component Training and Blood Pressure Variability in Women: A Scoping Review

Blood pressure variability (BPV) is an independent cardiovascular risk marker associated with target-organ damage, cardiovascular events, and mortality. In women, however, it remains unclear whether aerobic-component training meaningfully modifies BPV and whether BPV-focused intervention studies report hard cardiovascular outcomes. This scoping review mapped and synthesized indexed literature on BPV responses to aerobic-component training in adult women. The review followed PRISMA-ScR and updated Joanna Briggs Institute guidance and was registered in the Open Science Framework ( https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/R2D4K ). Searches were performed in PubMed, Web of Science Core Collection, the Virtual Health Library, and SciELO, without language or date restrictions, using Population-Concept-Context eligibility criteria. Women aged 18 years or older exposed to interventions with a predominant aerobic component were eligible when BPV was explicitly assessed with a validated method. Among 552 identified records, 527 unique records were screened and four reports were included, representing approximately 151 women from predominantly postmenopausal and selected clinical populations. Available studies suggest reductions in mean blood pressure and selected autonomic markers, whereas chronic BPV findings were heterogeneous. One pilot study reported a greater reduction in 24-hour systolic BPV with supervised exercise than with a home-based program. No included BPV-focused intervention study reported cardiovascular mortality or major cardiovascular events.