Abstract P161: Effect of Yoga Program on Cardiovascular Function in Elderly with Stage-I Hypertension

Abstract

Introduction: Hypertension is a major cause of cardiovascular (CV) morbidity and mortality in elderly population. Hypertension along with aging leads to left ventricular hypertrophy, systolic and diastolic dysfunction and congestive heart failure. We aimed to determine the effect of yoga program on cardiovascular indices in elderly with stage-I hypertension. Hypothesis: We hypothesize that yoga lifestyle modality may induce significant beneficial changes in cardiovascular function in elderly individuals with hypertension. Yoga program may be more beneficial than walking for cardiovascular health in elderly. Methods: A parallel arm, open label, single blind, randomized controlled study was conducted on elderly people with stage-I hypertension aged above 60 years (n=44). Yoga group (n=24) was assigned for yoga practice (includes asanas, pranayama and meditation) and control group (n=20) for brisk-walk for one hour in the morning for 6 days in a week for three months. The outcome measures were cardiovascular indices derived from pulse wave analysis such as left ventricular ejection time (ET), diastolic time (DT) pulse duration (PD), percentage of mean arterial pressure (%MAP), upstroke time (UT), ejection slope (ES), ejection duration index (ED%), pre-ejection period (PEP), and heart rate. Results: The mean within-yoga group change in PD(ms) was -50.29 (CI=-98.5, -2.07; p=0.042), DT(ms): -49.04 (CI=-88.47, -9.61; p=0.017), ED%: 2.107 (CI=0.92, 3.28; p=0.001), HR(bpm): 4.41 (CI=0.43, 8.4; p=0.031), %MAP: 2.08 (CI=0.71, 3.44; p=0.04), ES (mmHg/ms): 14.62 (CI=-3.99, 33.24; p=0.118), ET (ms): -0.66 (CI=11.89, 10.55; p=0.903), UT(ms): -2.54 (CI=14.95, 9.87; p=0.676), PEP (ms): -1.25 (CI=-4.17, 1.67; p=0.11). The mean within-control group change in PD(ms) was 11.15 (CI=-52.26, 74.56; p=0.717), DT(ms): 11.3 (CI=-50.56, 73.16; p=0.706), ED%: -0.101 (CI=-2.7, 2.5; p=0.936), HR (bpm): 0.35 (CI=-4.71, 5.41; p=0.887), %MAP: 0.65 (CI=-1.11, 2.41; p=0.451), ES(mmHg/ms): 0.75 (CI=-15.8, 17.38; p=0.926), ET(ms): 2.2 (CI=-10.5, 14.9; p=0.721), UT(ms): 4.7 (CI=-8.19, 17.59; p=455), PEP (ms): 2.1 (CI=-0.52, 4.72; p=0.11). Analysis of Covariance showed a significant change between-groups in PD (p=0.021), DT (p=0.02), UT (p=0.048), ED% (p=0.049), HR (p=0.036) while no significant difference was observed in ES (p=0.248), ET (p=0.245), PEP (p=0.102) and %MAP (p=0.262). Conclusions: These findings indicate that the yoga practice can induce beneficial changes in cardiovascular function in elderly hypertensive subjects. Further, yoga may be better than walking in improving cardiac health in older individuals.