Effect of exercise based on ACSM recommendations on blood pressure and heart rate in hypertensive patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Numerous studies have demonstrated the positive effects of exercise as a non-pharmacological treatment for hypertensive patients. However, there was a relative lack of research analyzing the effects of different exercise doses on hypertensive individuals. Therefore, the primary objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of different exercise doses on blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) in hypertensive patients through a systematic review and meta-analysis. A systematic search was conducted across four electronic databases (PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane), focusing on the impact of exercise on BP and HR in hypertensive patients, followed by literature screening. Based on the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommendations for aerobic, resistance, and flexibility exercises in hypertensive patients, the intervention measures from 29 randomized controlled trials were evaluated and categorized as high adherence and low/uncertainty adherence groups according to ACSM recommendations. Differences in systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), and HR between ACSM high and low/uncertainty adherence exercises were reported and evaluated using standardized mean difference (SMD) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI). A total of 25 articles were included, comprising 29 studies, with 16 studies categorized as high adherence with ACSM recommendations and 13 categorized as low or uncertain adherence. For the three outcome measures, the SMD ratio of exercise interventions with high ACSM adherence to those with low or uncertain ACSM adherence was as follows: systolic blood pressure (− 1.20: − 0.75), diastolic blood pressure (− 0.84: − 0.78), and heart rate (− 0.37: − 0.40). The results suggest that exercise interventions with high adherence to ACSM recommendations had a more significant impact on SBP and DBP in hypertensive patients, while the impact on HR was less pronounced than that of interventions with low or uncertain adherence to ACSM recommendations.This systematic review and meta-analysis was registered in PROSPERO (CRD 42023460293).