Overground walking cxercisc training rcduccs blood pressure in adult patients with stroke — a randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Summary The use of exercise training to enhance functional outcomes and improve physiological parameters after stroke is now receiving great attention from clinicians. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the effects of over ground walking exercise training on blood pressure of adult patients with stroke. 47 stroke survivors comprising 25 men and 22 women participated in the study. They were randomly assigned to an exercise training group (A) and a control group (B); with 23 subjects in Group A and 24 subjects in Group B. Forty (40) subjects (20 in each group) completed the study. All study subjects received conventional physiotherapy rehabilitation for 12 weeks. During the same period, subjects in Group A had over ground walking exercise training (OWET) in addition to the conventional therapy. Changes in resting systolic and diastolic blood pressures were monitored throughout the period of the study. Results at weeks 0, 4, 8 and 12 were used for analysis. For each of the 2 groups, paired /-tests were used to evaluate the significance of the differences between the pre-intervention (week 0) mean scores on resting SBP/DBP and the mean scores at weeks 4, 8 and 12. Subjects in the OWET group had significant reductions in resting SBP and DBP with 12 weeks of training. Reductions in resting SBP and DBP were not statistically significant for the subjects in the control group. It was concluded that over ground walking exercise training was highly effective for reduction of blood pressure in adult patients with stroke; and could be combined with conventional rehabilitation commonly used in most stroke-care units.