Walking and Blood Pressure in Older Adults With Respiratory Impairment.

Summary

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of an 8-week walking program on blood pressure in inactive older adults with respiratory impairment, a condition where lung function is sub-optimal for a person's age. Older adults with respiratory impairment have greater risks of death by cardiovascular disease (CVD) compared to those without respiratory impairment, and this may be partly driven by higher resting blood pressure. One way to lower blood pressure is to increase the number of daily steps achieved throughout the course of everyday life ('lifestyle steps'), and previous research shows that an additional 3,000 lifestyle steps/day is effective for achieving this. However, whether an increase in daily lifestyle steps is effective for reducing blood pressure in senior-community dwelling older adults with respiratory impairment is unknown. Understanding how increasing daily steps impacts blood pressure in this understudied population is important for informing future strategies for tackling cardiovascular disease risk in those with lung dysfunction.

Conditions

• Respiratory Impairment
• Elevated Blood Pressure
• Physical Inactivity

Interventions

OTHER

Increased lifestyle walking (intervention)

Participants will increase their baseline steps by a minimum of 3,000 extra steps/day, 5-days/week, for 8-weeks. Baseline steps will be assessed using a pedometer over a 7-day period before the intervention, after which a new (higher) daily step target will be assigned. The intervention will take place in the free-living setting, with participants reaching their step goals by engaging in more activities of daily living or via purposeful physical activity. Participants will wear a pedometer throughout the 8-week period to keep track of their steps, and adherence to the protocol will be determined by collecting the stored step data directly from each participant's pedometer on a weekly basis. Participants will be supported in their efforts to meet their daily step targets by engaging in once-weekly walking groups (30-mins/session) led by research staff. They will also receive 20-minute phone calls once every two weeks to set goals and create action plans for reaching their step targets.

OTHER

Health education only (control)

Those randomized to the delayed participation group will be instructed to maintain their 'normal' lifestyle activities, thereby avoiding any significant increase in daily step counts beyond their 'baseline' values. Participants will wear a pedometer throughout the 8-week period to keep track of their steps, and adherence to the protocol will be determined by collecting the stored step data directly from each participant's pedometer on a weekly basis. Participants in this group will attend once-weekly group health education sessions (30-minutes/session), in addition to 5-minute, 'touch base' phone calls once every 2-weeks, but these phone calls will not involve goal-setting or action planning. After completing the initial 8-week period, these individuals can then opt to undertake the 'increased lifestyle walking' intervention of 3,000 extra steps/day over 5-days for 8-weeks if desired.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Iowa State University

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Duck-chul Lee, PhD · Iowa State University

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

65 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2023-09-30

Primary Completion

2024-01-31

Completion

2024-05-31

Countries

• United States

Study Locations