| dc.description.abstract | Cardiovascular reactivity (CVR) refers to relatively high heart rate (HR) and blood pressure (BP) increases in the face of a mental stressor. CVR may be a concern for heart patients since it may precede ischemic events and CVR may be an indicator of relatively poor prognosis. Anticipation of an exercise tolerance test (ETT) results in rapid increases in HR and BP and has been used as a stressor in heart patient to study CVR. However, it is not clear how CVR changes associated with an ETT change after a course of cardiac rehabilitation (CR). PURPOSE: To examine CVR, specifically HR and systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) responses, to anticipation of an exercise tolerance test before and after a course of CR. METHODS: CVR was recorded for 76 patients at baseline and for a subsample of 23 patients who completed 6 weeks of CR. Identical procedures were used for baseline and post-CR data collection. Resting HR and BP were measured 3 times, 1 minute apart, by an automated oscillometric BP monitor after the patient had been seated quietly and alone for 5 minutes. The patient was then prepped for an ETT and met in the exercise stress testing lab by the researcher. Standing HR and BP measures were taken by the same automated BP device after 1 and 3 minutes of standing on the treadmill immediately prior to beginning exercise. The mean of the 3 seated measures was considered the resting BP and HR. Peak BP and HR standing were used to calculate the cardiovascular response to anticipation of exercise. CVR was defined as peak BP and HR minus resting BP and HR, respectively. RESULTS: Anticipation of exercise resulted in significant increases (all p’s < .002) in CV parameters with an average CVR at baseline for HR, SBP and DBP of 4.0 bpm, 16.6 mmHg, and 13.5 mmHg, respectively. CVR after
a course of CR for HR, SBP and DBP were 4.3 bmp, 15.9 mmHg, and 9.2 mmHg (ps < .001). Differences between baseline and post-CR CVR was significant only for the change in DBP (p = .05). CONCLUSION: Patients responded with a predictable increase in HR and BP in anticipation of an ETT before and after a course of CR. After CR, DBP increases in anticipation of an ETT were lower in magnitude than before CR. Future research should investigate specific components of CR that may help reduce CVR. | en |
