CLINICAL RESEARCH POSTER PRESENTATION ABSTRACTS
Please note: All posters will be displayed in Salons 10-12.

THURSDAY, 5:30-6:15 PM


Taylor-Piliae RE, Haskell WL, Sivarajan ES.

Blood pressure, heart rate and aerobic endurance in response to tai chi exercise in ethnic Chinese with cardiovascular disease risk factors.

Stanford Prevention Research Center, School of Medicine, Stanford University rpiliae@stanford.edu

BACKGROUND: Physical activity reduces cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors. Reduction in blood pressure (BP) in response to Tai Chi exercise (TCE) in persons with CVD risk factors have been reported, though not in ethnic Chinese living in the United States (US). Objective: Test hemodynamic responses to TCE.

METHODS: Quasi-experimental design. Ethnic Chinese > 45 years old with at least 1 major CVD risk factor, living in the San Francisco Bay Area, attended a TCE intervention 3x/week for 12 weeks. A 2-minute step-in-place test assessed aerobic endurance. BP and heart rate were measured at rest, and within 1-minute after the step-test. Data were collected at baseline, 6 and 12-weeks.

RESULTS: A total of 39 subjects (69% women), 66 ± 8.3 years old, with hypertension (92%), hypercholesteremia (49%), and/or diabetes (21%), and 1 current smoker participated. Adherence to the intervention was high (87%). Table 1 shows clinically and statistically significant reductions in BP at rest and after the step-in-place test, over 12-weeks of TC. Subjects were sedentary at baseline, though had a statistically significant improvement in aerobic endurance over-time. No significant change in heart rate was observed.

CONCLUSIONS: This innovative, culturally relevant 12-week TCE program, appealed to Chinese adults with CVD risk factors; had significant reductions in BP and improvement in aerobic endurance. Given the high prevalence and public health burden associated with high BP among adults, this finding is important since it offers an alternative to risk reduction. Use of a RCT design is now needed to rule-out spontaneous improvements.

TABLE 1: HEMODYNAMIC RESPONSES OVER 12 WEEKS OF TAI CHI EXERCISE, N=38

HEMODYNAMIC RESPONSE Baseline Mean ± SD 6-Weeks Mean ± SD 12-Weeks Mean ± SD F [df2,36] p-value eta2
AT REST            
Systolic Blood Pressure 150.0 ± 20.0 134.6 ± 17.8 131.1 ± 15.1 28.09 0.001 0.43
Diastolic Blood Pressure 85.8 ± 9.3 77.6 ± 9.1 76.9 ± 8.4 23.85 0.001 0.39
Heart Rate 75.9 ± 14.6 74.5 ± 12.8 73.6 ± 11.7 0.97 0.384 0.03
AFTER 2-MINUTE STEP-TEST            
SYSTOLIC BLOOD PRESSURE 178.3 ± 23.7 167.6 ± 25.2 164.3 ± 22.3 10.08 0.001 0.21
Diastolic Blood Pressure 98.8 ± 22.7 83.2 ± 12.6 81.6 ± 11.2 15.78 0.001 0.30
HEART RATE 92.2 ± 23.5 94.0 ± 21.9 91.1 ± 20.4 0.49 0.614 0.01
AEROBIC ENDURANCE            
Number of steps in 2-minutes 73.0 ± 13.8 83.0 ± 18.3 88.3 ± 20.2 23.72 0.001 0.39

 

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