title: Cardiovascular recovery from stress predicts longitudinal changes in blood pressure.
abstract: Cardiovascular reactivity and recovery were examined as predictors of blood pressure changes over 3 years. Blood pressure and heart rate readings were obtained from 73 men and women aged 18-20 years during cold pressor, mental arithmetic, tourniquet ischemia, cycle exercise and step exercise tasks. Regression analyses indicated that after adjustment for initial blood pressure, initial age, initial body-mass index, sex, parental history of hypertension, and length of follow-up, heightened heart rate reactivity to mental arithmetic was associated with increased follow-up systolic blood pressure (DeltaR(2)=0.04, P<0.05). Systolic blood pressure recovery from cold pressor and tourniquet ischemia were also positively related to follow-up systolic blood pressure (DeltaR(2)=0.04 and 0.04, respectively, P<0.05) and remained so even after adjustment for the corresponding cardiovascular reactivity measures. These findings suggest that cardiovascular reactivity and recovery measures are modest predictors of longitudinal changes in blood pressure.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Ohio University, 245 Porter Hall, Athens, OH 45701-2979, USA.
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Stewart
authors.forename: C R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: France
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology*; D002320:Cardiovascular Physiological Phenomena; D003071:Cognition; D005080:Exercise Test; D005260:Female; D005544:Forecasting; D006439:Hemodynamics; D006801:Humans; D007511:Ischemia; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D012044:Regression Analysis; D013315:Stress, Psychological