Table II.
Baseline Clinical Characteristics and Exercise Parameters of Normotensive Patients
| Exercise BP Recoverya and BP Responseb Subgroups | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All (N=374) | Normal BP rec Normal BP resp (n=195) | Delayed BP rec Normal BP reps (n=81) | Normal BP rec Exaggerated BP resp (n=84) | Delayed BP rec Exaggerated BP resp (n=14) | P Value | |
| Clinical Characteristics | ||||||
| Age, y | 49.6±11.0 | 48.6±10.8 | 49.5±12.1 | 50.8±10.1 | 55.5±9.2 | .079 |
| Male sex, No. (%) | 254 (67.9) | 124 (63.6) | 52 (64.2) | 69 (82.1) | 9 (64.3) | .018 |
| Family history of AH, No. (%) | 65 (17.4) | 33 (16.9) | 14 (17.3) | 15 (17.9) | 3 (21.4) | .632 |
| BMI, kg/m2 | 26.1±3.3 | 25.9±3.4 | 26.2±3.2 | 26.5±3.0 | 25.8±3.0 | .469 |
| Smoking, No. (%) | 120 (32.1) | 59 (30.2) | 26 (32.1) | 31 (36.9) | 4 (28.6) | .735 |
| Dyslipidemia, No. (%) | 193 (51.6) | 99 (50.8) | 38 (46.9) | 48 (57.1) | 8 (57.1) | .578 |
| Diabetes mellitus, No. (%) | 7 (1.9) | 4 (2.1) | 1 (1.2) | 2 (2.4) | 0 (0.0) | .897 |
| Treatment: Statins, No. (%) | 80 (21.4) | 42 (21.5) | 8 (9.9) | 27 (32.1) | 3 (21.4) | .013 |
| Antiplatelet agents, No. (%) | 32 (8.6) | 16 (8.2) | 4 (4.9) | 9 (10.7) | 3 (21.4) | .240 |
| Exercise Parameters | ||||||
| Exercise duration, s | 584.3±145.9 | 589.5±130.8 | 545.0±142.8 | 614.5±165.7 | 557.3±194.0 | .016 |
| METs | 11.5±2.6 | 11.5±2.4 | 10.9±2.6 | 12.0±3.1 | 11.3±3.3 | .047 |
| Resting HR, bpm | 83.4±12.3 | 84.9±12.2 | 82.6±14.0 | 81.7±11.1 | 78.4±8.4 | .061 |
| Peak exercise HR, bpm | 166.2±16.4 | 168.0±15.9 | 162.5±19.3 | 165.0±13.6 | 169.0±17.3 | .057 |
| Achieved HR, % of predicted | 97.6±8.3 | 98.1±8.0 | 95.4±10.1 | 97.6±6.7 | 102.7±8.1 | .008 |
| Recovery HR, bpm | ||||||
| First minute | 133.6±18.1 | 135.5±17.3 | 131.5±22.4 | 131.0±15.5 | 134.1±14.4 | .183 |
| Second minute | 111.3±17.0 | 113.3±16.5 | 108.5±20.1 | 109.4±14.8 | 110.3±13.8 | .110 |
| Third minute | 102.8±15.4 | 104.8±15.6 | 99.3±17.8 | 101.4±12.1 | 103.1±11.4 | .044 |
| Resting SBP, mm Hg | 111.7±13.0 | 112.3±13.2 | 111.8±12.4 | 110.9±13.9 | 107.9±10.5 | .596 |
| Peak exercise SBP, mm Hg | 164.9±21.3 | 160.3±16.5 | 151.6±19.6 | 185.6±17.1 | 180.4±14.7 | <.001 |
| ΔSBP,c mm Hg | 53.2±17.3 | 48.1±10.9 | 39.8±14.2 | 74.7±9.5 | 72.5±8.5 | <.001 |
| Recovery SBP, mm Hg | ||||||
| First minute | 157.3±22.4 | 149.6±17.9 | 156.9±23.7 | 171.2±21.1 | 183.9±20.4 | <.001 |
| Second minute | 146.2±23.8 | 137.7±19.3 | 150.9±23.5 | 156.0±25.0 | 177.9±21.4 | <.001 |
| Third minute | 136.8±20.7 | 128.2±17.0 | 146.3±19.6 | 142.3±19.0 | 170.4±14.7 | <.001 |
| Resting RP product, bpm×mm Hg | 9326±1817 | 9534±1795 | 9246±2009 | 9066±1702 | 8445±1177 | .052 |
| Peak exercise RP product, bpm×mm Hg | 27,418±4458 | 26,963±3915 | 24,719±4653 | 30,573±3372 | 30,439±3629 | <.001 |
| Recovery RP product, bpm×mm Hg | ||||||
| First minute | 21,004±3666 | 20,258±3451 | 20,757±4993 | 22,355±3318 | 24,670±3818 | <.001 |
| Second minute | 16,289±3683 | 15,656±3385 | 16,462±4259 | 17,024±3325 | 19,684±3736 | <.001 |
| Third minute | 14,072±3014 | 13,458±2813 | 14,601±3540 | 14,403±2432 | 17,567±2513 | <.001 |
| Angina‐like symptoms, No. (%) | 7 (1.9) | 3 (1.5) | 2 (2.5) | 2 (2.4) | 0 (0.0) | .872 |
| Ischemic ST‐segment response, No. (%) | 28 (7.5) | 14 (7.2) | 6 (7.4) | 7 (8.3) | 1 (7.1) | .907 |
| QRS scored | 1.7±3.0 | 2.0±2.9 | 1.2±3.2 | 1.7±3.1 | 1.0±3.0 | .469 |
Abbreviations: AH, arterial hypertension; BP, blood pressure; bpm, beats per minute; BMI, body mass index; HR, heart rate; METs, metabolic equivalents (3.5 mL O2/kg/min); rec, recovery; resp, response; RP product, rate‐pressure product (HR×SBP); SBP, systolic blood pressure. aDelayed BP recovery: third minute of recovery SBP / peak exercise SBP ≥0.90. bExaggerated BP response: peak exercise SBP – resting SBP ≥65 mm Hg. cΔSBP: peak exercise SBP – resting SBP. dQRS score: (resting [R−Q−S] aVF+resting [R−Q−S] V5)−(peak exercise [R−Q−S] aVF+peak exercise [R−Q−S] V5).