University of Limerick
Browse

The use of cardiac autonomic responses to aerobic exercise in elderly stroke patients: functional rehabilitation as a public health policy

Download (510.38 kB)
journal contribution
posted on 2021-11-26, 11:59 authored by Rodrigo Daminello Raimundo, Juliana Zangirolami-Raimundo, Claudio Leone, Tatiana Dias de Carvalho, Talita Dias da Silva, Italla Maria Pinheiro Bezerra, Alvaro Dantas de Almeida, Vitor Engracia Valenti, Luiz Carlos de Abreu
Background and purpose: The development of public policies must be guided by full knowledge of the health–disease process of the population. Aerobic exercises are recommended for rehabilitation in stroke patients, and have been shown to improve heart rate variability (HRV). Our aim was to compare the cardiac autonomic modulation of elderly stroke patients with that of healthy elderly people during and after an acute bout of aerobic exercise. Methods: A total of 60 elderly people participated in the study (30 in the control group, mean age of 67 ± 4 years; 30 in the stroke group, mean age of 69 ± 3 years). HRV was analyzed in rest—10 min of rest in supine position; exercise—the 30 min of peak exercise; and recovery—30 min in supine position post-exercise. Results: Taking rest and exercises together, for SDNN, RMSSD, pNN50, RRTri, and TINN, there was no difference between the stroke and control groups (p = 0.062; p = 0.601; p = 0.166; p = 0.224, and p = 0.059, respectively). The HF (ms2 ) was higher and the LF/HF ratio was lower for the stroke group than the control group (p < 0.001 and p = 0.007, respectively). The SD2 was lower for the stroke group than for the control group (p = 0.041). Conclusion: Stroke patients present reduced variability at rest, sympathetic predominance during exercise, and do not return to baseline after the 30 min of recovery, with similar responses found in the healthy elderly group. Keywords: autonomic nervous system; aging; heart rate variability.

History

Publication

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health;18, 11460

Publisher

MDPI

Note

peer-reviewed

Other Funding information

Faculdade de Medicina do ABC and Acre State Government.

Language

English

Usage metrics

    University of Limerick

    Categories

    No categories selected

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC