Abstract 15558: Blood Pressure Responses During Exercise Were Associated With Average Home Blood Pressure and Home Blood Pressure Variability: The Electronic Framingham Heart Study

Abstract

Introduction: Abnormal blood pressure (BP) responses during exercise are associated with incident hypertension and cardiovascular disease, but how exercise BP responses relate to average home BP and home BP variability (BPV) over one-year follow-up is unknown. Objective: We investigated whether exercise BP was associated with average home BP and home BPV, after accounting for resting BP, in the electronic Framingham Heart Study (eFHS). We hypothesized that higher exercise BP predicts higher average home BP and home BPV over one-year follow-up. Methods: At a FHS research exam (2016-2019), participants underwent maximum incremental ramp cycle ergometry cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) with BP measured every two minutes. Participants enrolled in the eFHS were provided with a digital BP cuff to measure home BP weekly for up to one year. Linear regression models were used to examine associations of exercise BP with average home systolic BP (SBP) and week-to-week average real variability (ARV) of home SBP over one-year follow-up, adjusting for covariates. ARV, which considers both the dispersion and order of BP readings, was quantified as the average of the absolute differences between consecutive BP readings. We used p<0.05 for significance. Results: The study sample included 806 participants (mean age 53 years, 58% women, 46% hypertension, median number of home BP returns 22, average home SBP 122 mmHg). Adjusting for resting SBP and other covariates, higher exercise SBP (as measured by peak SBP, SBP at 75 Watts, and SBP/workload slope) was associated with higher average home SBP ( Figure 1A ). Higher SBP/workload slope was associated with elevated ARV of home SBP in men ( Figure 1B ). Conclusion: Higher exercise SBP responses are associated with higher average digital home-based SBP and home-based SBP variability over one-year follow-up after accounting for resting SBP.