The Importance of Walking for Control of Blood Pressure: Proof Using a Telemedicine System.

BACKGROUND Regular physical activity (PA), including daily walking, reduces the risk of many chronic diseases, especially hypertension. Pedometer is a potential motivational aid for increasing PA. In the present study, we used a telemedicine system and analyzed the relationship between daily walking, calculated by pedometers, and blood pressure (BP). METHODS BP was measured at home twice a day (morning and evening) using an oscillometric automatic device. Body weight (BW) and percent body fat (%BF) were measured after BP measurement. Daily walking steps (DWS) were calculated by a pedometer. These daily parameters were transmitted through the Internet to a central server computer and sent to the Medical Health Center. RESULTS Sixty-nine (N = 69) hypertensive patients were included in this study. The mean follow-up period was 378 days. Electronic data from a pedometer (DWS) were associated with reduced BW, body mass index, and %BF. Hypertensive patients were divided into two groups based on the DWS. In the high DWS group, morning systolic BP and diastolic BP and evening systolic BP were reduced after induction of the telemedicine system. CONCLUSION A telemedicine system confirmed the usefulness of walking to control BP in hypertensive patients.

[1]  K. Arakawa,et al.  Antihypertensive and volume-depleting effects of mild exercise on essential hypertension. , 1987, Hypertension.

[2]  M Hillsdon,et al.  Randomised controlled trials of physical activity promotion in free living populations: a review. , 1995, Journal of epidemiology and community health.

[3]  Carl Heneghan,et al.  Home measurement of blood pressure and cardiovascular disease: systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies , 2012, Journal of hypertension.

[4]  K. Arakawa,et al.  Hypertension and exercise. , 1993, Clinical and experimental hypertension.

[5]  V. Mbarika,et al.  What is telemedicine? A collection of 104 peer-reviewed perspectives and theoretical underpinnings. , 2007, Telemedicine journal and e-health : the official journal of the American Telemedicine Association.

[6]  Stefano Omboni,et al.  The Role of Telemedicine in Hypertension Management: Focus on Blood Pressure Telemonitoring , 2015, Current Hypertension Reports.

[7]  P. Kopelman.  Health risks associated with overweight and obesity , 2007, Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity.

[8]  S. Lydersen,et al.  Regular use of pedometer does not enhance beneficial outcomes in a physical activity intervention study in type 2 diabetes mellitus. , 2008, Metabolism: clinical and experimental.

[9]  K Miyashita,et al.  Walking 10,000 steps/day or more reduces blood pressure and sympathetic nerve activity in mild essential hypertension. , 2000, Hypertension research : official journal of the Japanese Society of Hypertension.

[10]  I. Olkin,et al.  Using pedometers to increase physical activity and improve health: a systematic review. , 2007, JAMA.

[11]  R. Marfella,et al.  Sympathovagal balance, nighttime blood pressure, and QT intervals in normotensive obese women. , 2003, Obesity research.

[12]  I-Min Lee,et al.  Physical activity and public health: updated recommendation for adults from the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Heart Association. , 2007, Medicine and science in sports and exercise.

[13]  G W Heath,et al.  The epidemiology of walking for exercise: implications for promoting activity among sedentary groups. , 1995, American journal of public health.

[14]  G. Colditz,et al.  The disease burden associated with overweight and obesity. , 1999, JAMA.

[15]  C. Tudor-Locke,et al.  How Many Steps/Day Are Enough? , 2004, Sports medicine.

[16]  K. Asayama,et al.  Prediction of Stroke by Self-Measurement of Blood Pressure at Home Versus Casual Screening Blood Pressure Measurement in Relation to the Joint National Committee 7 Classification: The Ohasama Study , 2004, Stroke.

[17]  K. Yano,et al.  Effects of walking on mortality among nonsmoking retired men. , 1998, The New England journal of medicine.

[18]  M. E. Oglesby,et al.  The effects of aerobic exercise on plasma catecholamines and blood pressure in patients with mild essential hypertension. , 1985, JAMA.

[19]  B. B. Zaidan,et al.  Based Real Time Remote Health Monitoring Systems: A Review on Patients Prioritization and Related "Big Data" Using Body Sensors information and Communication Technology , 2018, Journal of Medical Systems.

[20]  Gilles Chatellier,et al.  Cardiovascular prognosis of "masked hypertension" detected by blood pressure self-measurement in elderly treated hypertensive patients. , 2004, JAMA.

[21]  T. Mengden,et al.  Reliability of reporting self-measured blood pressure values by hypertensive patients. , 1998, American journal of hypertension.

[22]  Shigeru Hisamichi,et al.  Home blood pressure measurement has a stronger predictive power for mortality than does screening blood pressure measurement: a population‐based observation in Ohasama, Japan , 1998, Journal of hypertension.

[23]  R. Light,et al.  Role of Home Blood Pressure Monitoring in Overcoming Therapeutic Inertia and Improving Hypertension Control: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis , 2011, Hypertension.

[24]  M. Maiwald,et al.  Patient assessment of self-measurement of blood pressure: results of a telephone survey in Germany , 1996, Journal of hypertension.

[25]  Bernard C. K. Choi,et al.  Daily step goal of 10,000 steps: a literature review. , 2007, Clinical and investigative medicine. Medecine clinique et experimentale.

[26]  C. Vella,et al.  Efficacy of a pedometer-based physical activity program on parameters of diabetes control in type 2 diabetes mellitus. , 2006, Metabolism: clinical and experimental.

[27]  B. Levine,et al.  Morning blood pressure surge is associated with arterial stiffness and sympathetic baroreflex sensitivity in hypertensive seniors. , 2013, American journal of physiology. Heart and circulatory physiology.