title: Post-exercise hypotensive responses following an acute bout of aquatic and overground treadmill walking in people post-stroke: a pilot study.
abstract: The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of a single-bout of aquatic treadmill walking (ATW) and overground treadmill walking (OTW) on the magnitude and duration of post-exercise ambulatory blood pressure (BP) in people post-stroke.
  
  
  
  Seven people post-stroke participated in a cross-sectional comparative study. BP was monitored for up to 9 hours after a 15-minute bout of ATW and OTW at approximately 70% of maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max), performed on separate days. Mean systolic and diastolic BP values were compared between both exercise conditions and a day without exercise (control).
  
  
  
  Three hours after OTW, mean SBP increased by 9% from pre-exercise baseline compared to a 3% decrease during the control day (P < 0.05). A similar trend was observed after the third hour of ATW (P = 0.06). However, ATW demonstrated a 3% overall decline in DBP after exercise compared to a 1% DBP increase of the control day (P < 0.05). Additionally, ATW showed a 6% reduction in mean systolic BP at the ninth hour post-exercise (P < 0.05) compared to baseline.
  
  
  
  Our results indicate people post-stroke can sustain sufficient walking intensities necessary to reduce BP following cardiovascular exercise. Also, these data suggest that ATW can elicit clinically meaningful reductions in DBP and night-time SBP. Thus, it is recommended for clinicians to consider ATW as a non-pharmaceutical means to regulate DBP and promote nighttime dipping of SBP in people post-stroke. However, caution is advised during the immediate hours after exercise, a period of possible BP inflation.
authors.forename: Byron
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.forename: Brenda
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Jeng
authors.forename: Konstantinos
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Vrongistinos
authors.forename: Taeyou
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Jung
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005081:Exercise Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010865:Pilot Projects; D020521:Stroke / Q000628:therapy*; D000071939:Stroke Rehabilitation / Q000379:methods*; D016138:Walking / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring; Blood pressure; Exercise; Hypertension; Post-exercise hypotension; Stroke; Walking