Effect of stretching exercise on arterial stiffness in patients with chronic hemiparesis.

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doi:2013.22.1.53

Exerc Sci > Volume 22(1); 2013 > Article

Exercise Science 2013;22(1): 53-59. doi: https://doi.org/10.15857/ksep.2013.22.1.53

스트레칭 운동이 만성 뇌졸중 편마비 환자의동맥경직도에 미치는 영향

이용희¹, 박수현¹, 윤은선², 제세영¹

¹서울시립대학교
²성균관대학교

Effect of stretching exercise on arterial stiffness in patients with chronic hemiparesis.

Published online: December 14, 2015.

ABSTRACT

Lee, Yong-Hee., Park, Soo-Hyun., Yoon, Eun-Sun., Jae, Sae-Young. Effect of stretching exercise on arterial stiffness in patients with chronic hemiparesis. Exercise Science, 22(1): 53-59. 2013. Increased arterial stiffness is a strong predictor of future cardiovascular events and mortality. Increased cardiorespiratory fitness(CRF) improves arterial stiffness in healthy population. However, it is unclear whether stretching exercise improves arterial stiffness. We investigate the effect of stretching exercise independent of CRF on arterial stiffness in adults with chronic stroke hemiparesis. Twenty outpatients with chronic hemiparesis after stroke participated in the study. The exercise group(n=10) received stretching exercise program 3 times a week for 16 weeks and the control group(n=10) received usual care for 16 weeks. We measured a modified sit and reach test on chair as an index of flexibility and 6 minutes walk test as an index of CRF. Arterial stiffness was assessed by carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity(PWV) and augmentation index(Aix) using applanation tonometry. After intervention period, flexibility and CRF were significantly improved in the exercise group compared with the control group(p=.003；p=.002, respectively). A significant group by time interaction was detected for PWV(p=.001). After intervention there was a significant inversely association between change in flexibility and change in pulse wave velocity after adjusted for the change in CRF and systolic blood pressure(r=-.47, p=.049). These findings suggested that increased flexibility improved arterial stiffness independent of CRF in adults with chronic stroke hemiparesis. But additional research is needed to confirm this finding with a larger sample.

Key words: Stretching exercise, Arterial stiffness, Stroke