A single session of active video game play promotes post-exercise hypotension in hypertensive middle-aged subjects

Abstract

Purpose. To determine whether an active video game session promoted post-exercise hypotension, similar to walking. Methods. Fifteen hypertensive subjects (49.0 ± 1.6 years) of both genders performed five randomized sessions, lasting 60 minutes: 1) active video game; 2) sedentary video game; 3) walking on a treadmill with moderate intensity; 4) walking on a treadmill with similar intensity to the active video game; and 5) control without exercise. Blood pressure and cardiac autonomic modulation measurements were taken at rest and every 10 minutes post exercise for 60 minutes. Results. The active video game promoted a reduction in systolic blood pressure (-14.4 ± 3.0 mmHg, p < 0.0001) similar to walking on a treadmill with moderate intensity (-16.9 ± 3.3 mmHg, p < 0.0001), whereas the control group without exercise did not demonstrate a blood pressure reduction. The sedentary video game also demonstrated a reduction in systolic blood pressure (-10.0 ± 3.1 mmHg, p = 0.0039), statistically similar to the active video game and walking on a treadmill with similar intensity to the active video game (8.7 ± 2.9 mmHg, p = 0.0034). Regarding the diastolic component, the active video game (-7.6 ± 1.5 mmHg, p < 0.0001), walking on a treadmill with moderate intensity (-8.3 ± 2.9 mmHg, p = 0.0042), and the sedentary video game (-7.5 ± 2.7 mmHg, p = 0.0098) produced similar reductions in diastolic blood pressure. The active video game was a procedure that promoted a sympathetic-vagal balance reduction from pre-exercise to 60 minutes post exercise (4.2 ± 0.8 to 2.3 ± 0.5, p = 0.0486). Conclusions. Active video game play promoted a similar reduction in blood pressure compared to traditional walking exercise with the advantage of promoting reduction in the sympathetic inflow to the heart.