Retrospective cohort study at two centers, systolic blood pressure response during exercise testing

Abstract

Abstract Funding Acknowledgements Type of funding sources: Public grant(s) – National budget only. Main funding source(s): Palacky University Olomouc Faculty of Medicine Czechia. Introduction Measurement of blood pressure (BP) is a standard part of the exercise testing protocol in the general population and in athletes, however, we do not have a sufficient definition of normal and abnormal blood pressure response to exercise and we don´t know the prognostic impact of exercise systolic blood pressure. Purpose To present systolic blood pressure values during exercise in athletes examined by an exercise test. Methods Retrospective analysis of blood pressure response to exercise in a selected cohort of athletes who performed a bicycle ergometer exercise test at two centers. We excluded individuals with prevalent cardiovascular disease. An individual ramp protocol to maximum was used and blood pressure was measured by auscultation method. Resting BP and the highest systolic blood pressure during exercise (SPBmax), maximum heart rate (TF), and maximum workload were recorded for each individual. The SBP/Watt-slope and the SBP/Watt-ratio at peak exercise were calculated. The SBP/Watt-slope was calculated as the ratio of the difference in the rest SPB and peak SPB measurement over the increment of workload. The SBP/Watt-ratio at peak exercise was calculated as the ratio of peak SBD over the peak workload. Sex-specific mean values, standard deviations, and 5th, 25th, 75th and 95th percentiles were determined. Results Between the years 2015 and 2021, 14 702 individuals – 3821 females (27,2 %) and 10 251 males (72,8 %) – underwent the exercise test, with an average age of 19 years (±14). The average Body Mass Index (BMI) was 21,1. The average maximum heart rate achieved was 183/min (±16) and the average peak workload achieved was 3,9 W/kg regardless of gender. The following values were calculated for the whole cohort: peak SBP/Watt-ratio and SBP/Watt-slope. More detailed results are in Table 1. Sex-specific values can be seen in Table 2. Conclusion The values of BP response during exercise testing in our cohort are comparable to recently published data. These data can change the interpretation of SPB response to exercise in the future. There is also a strong need for further research-the multivariate analysis of factors associated with a higher blood pressure response to exercise and determination of sex and age-specific values.