Stretching Versus Walking From Reducing Blood Pressure

NCT ID: NCT03947996

Last Updated: 2021-02-10

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 40 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2019-05-15
• Study Completion Date: 2019-12-31

Brief Summary

High blood pressure is a leading risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Traditionally, one of the ways to treat or prevent high blood pressure is to prescribe aerobic exercise training (i.e.brisk walking). Previous studies have shown that stretching is also very effective for reducing blood pressure. This is an exciting possibility because if stretching is more effective, it would change the way exercise is prescribed to people with elevated blood pressure. This study will now assess 20 individuals in a supervised stretching or walking program five days per week for 8 weeks to determine for certain whether stretching is superior for reducing blood pressure. This research will contribute to recommendations about the most effective exercise programs for reducing blood pressure and risk of cardiovascular disease.

Detailed Description

The study hypothesis is that stretching (flexibility training) will be superior to brisk walking for reducing blood pressure.

This is a parallel-group randomised trial. Twenty participants (aged 18 and older) with borderline or stage-1 hypertension (systolic blood pressure between 130 and 159 mmHg OR diastolic blood pressure between 85 and 99 mmHg) will be randomised to walking or stretching groups. Each group will do 30 minutes of exercise, five days per week. Exercise sessions will be supervised three days per week with participants doing exercise sessions on their own two days per week. Exercise sessions involve either brisk walking or stretching. The stretching exercises will involve stretching all major muscle groups. The main outcome is 24-hour blood pressure which will be assessed at baseline, after four weeks, and after eight weeks. Other outcomes will be assessed at baseline and eight weeks and include: Body weight, height, waist circumference, resting heart rate, physical activity levels (questionnaire), diet (questionnaire), maximal distance walked in six minutes. All participants will be counselled on how to follow the DASH eating plan, which involves reducing dietary salt intake.

Statistical analyses: All outcomes will be assessed with a group x time ANOVA with alpha level of 0.05. LSD post-hoc tests will be done when necessary to identify differences between pairs of means.

Conditions

Hypertension

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: TREATMENT
• Blinding Strategy: DOUBLE

Study Groups

Stretching

Stretching

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Stretching exercise

Intervention Type: OTHER

Stretching (30 minutes, 5 days per week, 8 weeks)

Walking

Walking

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Walking exercise

Intervention Type: OTHER

Walking (30 minutes, 5 days per week, 8 weeks)

Interventions

Stretching exercise

Stretching (30 minutes, 5 days per week, 8 weeks)

Intervention Type: OTHER

Walking exercise

Walking (30 minutes, 5 days per week, 8 weeks)

Intervention Type: OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Systolic blood pressure between 130 and 159 mmHg OR diastolic blood pressure between 85 and 99 mmHg

Exclusion Criteria

• Individuals will be excluded if they have taken blood pressure medications within the past six months unless they are on a stable dose of medication and have not reach target blood pressure levels (i.e. systolic blood pressure below 130 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure below 85 mmHg)

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)

OTHER_GOV

Sponsor Role: collaborator

University of Saskatchewan

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Phil Chilibeck

Professor

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Philip Chilibeck, Ph.D.

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University of Saskatchewan

Locations

College of Kinesiology, University of Saskatchewan

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

Countries

Canada

References

Ko J, Deprez D, Shaw K, Alcorn J, Hadjistavropoulos T, Tomczak C, Foulds H, Chilibeck PD. Stretching is Superior to Brisk Walking for Reducing Blood Pressure in People With High-Normal Blood Pressure or Stage I Hypertension. J Phys Act Health. 2021 Jan 1;18(1):21-28. doi: 10.1123/jpah.2020-0365. Epub 2020 Dec 18.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

PMID: 33338988 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

1133

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id