Clinical trial NCT03947996: Stretching Versus Walking From Reducing Blood Pressure
Official title: Comparison of Stretching and Walking as Exercise Modalities for Reducing Blood Pressure
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Hypertension
Lead sponsor: University of Saskatchewan
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
First posted: 2019-05-13
Enrollment: 40
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Intervention model description: Parallel groups: Two groups: Walking exercise and stretching exercise
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

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.

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)

Primary outcomes:
measure: Night time blood pressure
timeFrame: Change from Baseline Night Time Blood Pressure at 8 weeks
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Day time blood pressure
timeFrame: Change from Baseline Day Time Blood Pressure at 8 weeks
measure: Sitting blood pressure
timeFrame: Change from Baseline Sitting Blood Pressure at 8 weeks
measure: Lying blood pressure
timeFrame: Change from Baseline Lying Blood Pressure at 8 weeks
measure: Walking test
timeFrame: Change from Baseline Walking Distance at 8 weeks
measure: Waist circumference
timeFrame: Change from Baseline Waist Circumference at 8 weeks
measure: Body mass
timeFrame: Change from Baseline Body Mass at 8 weeks
measure: Resting heart rate
timeFrame: Change from Baseline Resting Heart Rate at 8 weeks
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Saskatoon
country: Canada
facility: College of Kinesiology, University of Saskatchewan
state: Saskatchewan
Study officials:
affiliation: University of Saskatchewan
name: Philip Chilibeck, Ph.D.
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: 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.