Masters Thesis

An investigation of the post-exercise hypotensive response following an acute bout of aquatic and overground treadmill walking in people post-stroke

BACKGROUND: While exercise is a universal recommendation for long term prevention and/or maintenance of hypertension, less is understood about the immediate effects of blood pressure (BP) following a single bout of exercise, otherwise known as post-exercise hypotension. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of a single-bout of ATW and OTW on the magnitude and duration of post-exercise ambulatory BP in people post-stroke. METHODS: 7 people post-stroke participated in a cross-sectional comparative study. Ambulatory BP was monitored for up to eight hours after a bout of aquatic treadmill walking (ATW) and overground treadmill walking (OTW), performed on separate days. Mean systolic and diastolic BP values were compared between both exercise conditions and a day when no exercise was performed (control). RESULTS: Mean ambulatory systolic BP following ATW was reduced by 5% compared to the control day (p 0.01) and displayed a systematic trend in reduced BP compared to OTW (p = 0.051). Mean ambulatory diastolic BP values following OTW and ATW were reduced by 6% and 7% respectively, compared to the control day (p 0.01). ATW demonstrated a reduction of 6% in mean systolic BP at the eighth hour of exercise compared to baseline (p 0.05). CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that people post-stroke are able to lower their BP, under free living conditions, for up to nine hours following a single bout of ATW. In addition, ATW may promote nighttime dipping of systolic BP in people post-stroke.

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