The relationship between continuation of exercise habit for three years and endothelial function in patients with hypertension

The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between continuation of exercise habit for a long period and endothelial function assessed by flow-mediated vasodilation (FMD) in patients with hypertension. This study was a multicenter retrospective observational study. A total of 639 patients with hypertension were enrolled in this study. The subjects were divided into two groups based on information on exercise habit: a regular exercise group and a non-regular exercise group (control group). The regular exercise group was defined as patients who had an exercise habit during a 3-year follow-up period. There was no significant difference in FMD at baseline between the regular exercise group and control group. The change in FMD examined by the Wilcoxon signed rank test was significantly larger in the regular exercise group than in the control group (0.4 (-1.4, 2.0) % vs. -0.1 (-2.2, 1.4) %, p = 0.008). After adjustment for confounding factors for FMD, the odds ratio for increase in FMD was significantly larger in the regular exercise group than in the control groups. (OR: 1.59, 95% CI: 1.14-2.21, p = 0.006) A cubic spline curve revealed that even subjects with regular exercise who had a mean exercise intensity of less than 20 Mets・hour/week a had higher odds ratio for increase in endothelial function compared to the control group. These findings suggest that patients with hypertension who engage in regular exercise exhibited better endothelial function compared to those who do not exercise. Clinical Trial Registry Information: http://www.umin.ac.jp (UMIN000012951).