The association of physical activity on arterial stiffness and the effect of a 12-week high-intensity interval training on arterial stiffness in elderly subjects.

Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the world’s leading cause for morbidity and mortality. Arterial stiffness is a strong predictor of CVD. Assessing arterial stiffness with pulse wave velocity (PWV) has been validated as an independent predictor for CVD. Physical activity (PA) has shown promising results for reducing arterial stiffness and PWV in different age groups. However, studies with elderly people, especially elderly with cardiovascular risk factors, are scarce.
Methods: Subjects aged 50-80 years old were divided into three groups. Healthy old active (HOA), healthy old sedentary (HOS) and old sedentary at risk of CVD (OSR). In a cross-sectional approach, the groups were compared based on arterial stiffness parameters, blood pressure, PWV, augmentation index and pulse pressure measured at the brachial artery by an oscillometric device. In a longitudinal approach, OSR was divided into an intervention group (IG) and a control group (CG). The intervention group underwent a 12-week high-intensity interval program. Both groups were tested before and after the 12-week program.
Results: Both healthy groups showed significant differences in arterial stiffness compared to the group at risk. The intervention program did show significant improvements in body composition but no reduction in arterial stiffness.
Conclusion: The study showed that long-term physical activity has a positive influence on arterial stiffness. The 12-week intervention program showed promising results in improving body composition. However, changes in arterial stiffness were too small to be significant, suggesting that an intervention needs to be longer to show a measurable improvement in arterial stiffness.