Failure of exercise to reduce blood pressure in patients with mild hypertension. Results of a randomized controlled trial.
OBJECTIVE
--To assess the effects of physical exercise training on blood pressure in patients with mild hypertension.


METHODS
--Randomized controlled trial.


METHODS
--Hospital-based cardiac rehabilitation program.


METHODS
--Ninety-nine men and women with untreated mild hypertension (systolic blood pressure, 140 to 180 mm Hg; diastolic blood pressure, 90 to 105 mm Hg) were included in the volunteer sample.


METHODS
--Subjects were randomly assigned to a 4-month program of aerobic exercise training, strength and flexibility training, or to a waiting list control group.


METHODS
--The main outcome measures were systolic and diastolic blood pressures measured four times with a random zero sphygmomanometer on 3 separate days in a clinic setting.


RESULTS
--After 4 months of exercise training, subjects in the aerobic exercise group did not exhibit greater reductions in blood pressure than subjects in the control group. We expected a differential decline of 5 mm Hg between the aerobic exercise and waiting list control groups and found a difference of -1.0 +/- 16 mm Hg and -1.2 +/- 10 mm Hg at alpha = .05 for systolic and diastolic blood pressure, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
--Moderate aerobic exercise alone should not be considered a replacement for pharmacologic therapy in nonobese patients with mild hypertension.
Department of Psychiatry, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710.
J A
JA
Blumenthal
W C
WC
Siegel
M
M
Appelbaum
D000328:Adult; D000553:Ambulatory Care; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001794:Blood Pressure; D001823:Body Composition; D004032:Diet; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D007361:Intelligence Tests; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic; D010349:Patient Compliance; D010809:Physical Fitness; D013312:Stress, Physiological