Blood pressure responses during exercise testing—is up best for prognosis?

Figures & data

Figure 1. An average systolic blood pressure response during symptom-limited cycle exercise testing with a 20-watt increment in work-load every 1 minute. Reproduced from Kurl S, Laukkanen JA, Rauramaa R, Lakka TA, Sivenius J, Salonen JT. Systolic blood pressure response to exercise stress test and risk of stroke. Stroke. 2001;32(9):2036–41 (5).

Table I. Blood pressure response during exercise testing and outcomes.

Study population	Exercise testing protocol	Blood pressure response	Follow-up time	Main finding
1019 elderly men and women, population study (11)	cycle exercise	large SBP increment during exercise	10.6 years	lower risk for cardiovascular death
6216 consecutive men, clinical population (12)	treadmill exercise	large SBP increment during exercise	6.6 years	lower risk for cardiovascular death
9608 consecutive men and women, clinical population (22)	treadmill exercise	high SBP at peak exercise	2 years	lower risk for all-cause death
300 apparently healthy subjects (17)	treadmill exercise	high SBP at peak exercise	7.7 years	higher risk for major cardiovascular events
143 hypertensive men (14)	cycle exercise	high SBP at peak exercise	16 years	higher risk for cardiovascular events
1999 apparently healthy men (20)	cycle exercise	high SBP at moderate work-load	16 years	higher risk for all-cause death
4907 middle-aged men, population study (19)	cycle exercise	high SBP at moderate work-load	8.4 years	higher risk for cardiovascular death
6578 asymptomatic middle-aged men and women (15)	treadmill exercise	high SBP at moderate work-load	20 years	higher risk for cardiovascular death
1731 asymptomatic middle-aged men (13)	cycle exercise	high SBP at peak exercise	12.7 years	higher risk for myocardial infarction

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