A single 40-minute bout of aerobic exercise in hypertensive patients significantly increased sympathetic activity (LF/HF ratio) and reduced parasympathetic activity compared to baseline, with no significant differences found between the exercise and control groups.
RCT (n=20)
Open-label
Random number table
No
Does a single bout of aerobic exercise improve post-exercise autonomic responses (HRV) in hypertensives?
A single bout of aerobic exercise in hypertensive patients acutely reduces parasympathetic activity and increases sympathetic activity, indicating it does not quickly improve cardiac autonomic regulation.
Standardized Mean Difference: 0.8
Absolute Event Rate: 4.1% vs 2.3%
p-value: p=0.028
Background. Heart rate variability (HRV) response to an exercise bout may provide useful insight into autonomic stress reactivity. Considering that cardiovascular responses to a stressor may be predictive of certain diseases, it becomes critical to understand if high blood pressure can influence the autonomic nervous system response to acute exercise. We, therefore, undertook a study to investigate the effect of a single bout of aerobic exercise on autonomic responses in hypertensives. Material and methods. Twenty hypertensives were randomly assigned to one of the two experimental groups control (CG) or exercise (EG). The exercise session was conducted on a treadmill and consisted of 40 min of running/walking at 60–70% HRreserve. In the control session, the participants remained seated in a quiet room for 40 min. After the exercise/control sessions, the HRV was recorded continuously for 60 min. Results. The EG presented an increase with a large effect size for LF 1.0 (post-30) and 1.0 (post-60) and LF/HF 0.8 (post-30) and 1.1 (post-60). Additionally, a reduction with a large effect was observed for HF –1.0 (post-30) and –1.0 (post-60). Conclusion. There is a considerable reduction in post-aerobic-exercise parasympathetic activity and an increase in sympathetic activity. Therefore, a single bout of aerobic exercise is not able to quickly improve the cardiac autonomic regulation.
Casonatto et al. (Tue,) conducted a rct in Hypertension (n=20). Single bout of aerobic exercise vs. Resting control session was evaluated on LF/HF ratio at 30 minutes post-exercise (Cohen's d 0.8 (within-group vs pre-exercise), p=0.028). A single 40-minute bout of aerobic exercise in hypertensive patients significantly increased sympathetic activity (LF/HF ratio) and reduced parasympathetic activity compared to baseline, with no significant differences found between the exercise and control groups.