The Effect of Walking on Cardiovascular Risk

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of an 8 week program of walking for 45 minutes, twice a week, on fitness, body composition , blood pressure and blood markers of cardiovascular risk. We hypothesised that this 90 minutes of walking per week would result in measurable increases in fitness and reductions in body fat, resting blood pressure and improved blood lipid profiles.

Detailed Description
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Current physical activity guidelines suggest that every adult should accumulate 30 minutes or more of moderate intensity physical activity on most days of the week. However, compliance with these guidelines requires considerable commitment in terms of time spent exercising per week (> 150 minutes) and this may deter individuals from starting an exercise programme. Accordingly, randomised controlled trials are needed to evaluate the effects of smaller volumes of exercise on health. 37 civil servants (24 women) aged 41.5 + 9.3 years, were randomly assigned to either two 45 minute walks per week (walking group) or no training (control group). Aerobic fitness, body composition, blood pressure (BP), CRP and lipoprotein variables were measured at baseline and following 8 weeks. Steps counts were measured at baseline and during weeks 4 and 8 of the intervention

Official Title
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The Effect of a Worksite Based Walking Programme on Cardiovascular Risk in Previously Sedentary Civil Servants

Conditions
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Sedentariness

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Walking 45 mins 2x p.w.


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Member of staff at the Northern Ireland Civil Service Exclusion Criteria: Physically active (defined as compliance with current physical activity guidelines (Pate, 1995), age > 65 years, resting BP > 159/99 mm Hg, total cholesterol > 6.2 mmol•L-1, fasting blood glucose > 7.0 mmol•L-1, body mass index (BMI) > 34.9 kg•m-2, current cigarette smokers, individuals with cardiovascular, pulmonary or metabolic disease, pain or discomfort in the chest, dizziness or heart murmur. individuals taking medication known to interfere with lipid metabolism, females who were pregnant or planning to become pregnant in the following five months

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years
Maximum Age: 65 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Prevention
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Single Group Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)


Arms and Interventions

| Intervention/Treatment |
| --- |
|Behavioral: Walking 45 mins 2x p.w.|nan|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Aerobic Fitness |  |  | 
| Resting Blood Pressure |  |  | 
| Body Fatness |  |  | 
| Blood Lipids |  |  | 
| C-reactive Protein |  |  | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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walking intervention, cardiovascular risk, inflammatory markers, aerobic fitness, fatness