Table 2.
Results of vascular evaluation and exercise testing in male (n = 47) and female (n = 25) athletes
| Male athletes n = 47 |
Female athletes n = 25 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean | SD | Mean | SD | p value | |
| Brachial systolic BP (mmHg) | 124.8 | 9.9 | 119.6 | 11.1 | 0.057 |
| Brachial diastolic BP (mmHg) | 75.7 | 7.3 | 73.5 | 8.4 | 0.284 |
| Mean brachial BP (mmHg) | 92.1 | 7 | 88.9 | 7.8 | 0.097 |
| Pulse pressure at rest (mmHg) | 49.1 | 9.2 | 46.1 | 11 | 0.248 |
| Heart rate at rest (bpm) | 57.2 | 10.2 | 61.9 | 10.2 | 0.068 |
| Mean aortic blood pressure (mmHg) | 72.4 | 8.9 | 79.3 | 8.9 | 0.003 |
| Central systolic BP (mmHg) | 97.7 | 8.3 | 95.7 | 8.5 | 0.340 |
| Central diastolic BP (mmHg) | 57.2 | 9.5 | 66.6 | 9.5 | < 0.001 |
| Central pulse pressure (mmHg) | 37.2 | 6.5 | 28.9 | 4.7 | < 0.001 |
| Aortic pulse wave velocity (m/s) | 6.2 | 0.85 | 5.9 | 0.58 | 0.079 |
| Augmentation index @75 bpm (%) | − 20.7 | 11 | − 17.4 | 9.6 | 0.203 |
| Resistance index | 16.15 | 6.5 | 12.7 | 10.7 | 0.148 |
| Total vascular resistance (dyn*s/cm5) | 1293 | 317.5 | 1218 | 341 | 0.369 |
| Maximum heart rate (bpm) | 179.3 | 11.8 | 183.5 | 7.8 | 0.079 |
| Maximum systolic brachial BP (mmHg) | 202.4 | 19.6 | 177.1 | 15.1 | < 0.001 |
| Δ systolic brachial BP (mmHg) | 77.6 | 19.3 | 57.8 | 14 | < 0.001 |
| Maximum diastolic brachial BP (mmHg) | 84.4 | 7.4 | 81.7 | 9.9 | 0.247 |
| Δ diastolic brachial BP (mmHg) | 8.7 | 9.5 | 8.2 | 8.6 | 0.821 |
| Maximum pulse pressure (mmHg) | 118 | 19.1 | 95.4 | 14.6 | < 0.001 |
| Absolute workload (Watt) | 342 | 71.5 | 190 | 31.5 | < 0.001 |
| Relative workload (Watt/kg) | 3.82 | 0.92 | 3.17 | 0.64 | < 0.001 |
| Peak energy expenditure (MET) | 15.2 | 3.4 | 12.8 | 2.4 | 0.001 |
| SBP/MET slope (mmHg/MET) | 5.7 | 1.84 | 5.1 | 1.6 | 0.158 |
| SBP/Watt slope (mmHg/Watt) | 0.34 | 0.12 | 0.53 | 0.19 | < 0.001 |
| Peak SBP/Watt ratio (mmHg/Watt) | 0.61 | 0.12 | 0.95 | 0.17 | < 0.001 |
Bold text statistically significant differences