Purpose: Aim of this study is to observe the effects of a 6-month walking program, either guided or recommended, on the blood pressure of hypertensive subjects.
Methods: Participants had to be[40 years old, a systolic pressure[ 140 mmHg and to declare a sedentary lifestyle. Blood pressure, weight, BMI, waist circumference and walking speed were
assessed at enrolment. The subjects could decide to enter in a group guided by exercise physiologists (WG, n = 93) or in a group in which walking was only recommended (CG, n = 99).
Results: At baseline subjects were[55 years, SBP[140 mmHg and BMI[25. All variables considered in the two subgroups were superimposable. Walking time was significantly longer in WG than in
CG (300 vs 120 min/week). Seventy subjects completed the WG and 88 the CG programs. In both subgroups a highly significantly decrease of anthropometric variables were observed. Systolic and
diastolic pressure decreased in the WG by 7.5 (P<0.0001) and by 1.9 mmHg (P = 0.039) respectively and in the CG by 4.1 (P<0.0001) and 2.1 mmHg (P = 0.005), respectively. The decrease
in SBP was higher in WG than CG (P<0.0001). Sixteen-months after the end of the study, 77% of the WG subjects and 34% of the CG declared to maintain walking habit.
Conclusions: Both walking programs resulted in clinically significant reductions of systolic and diastolic blood pressure with a reduction of SBP significantly higher in subjects who choose the guided walking program. WG was also more effective in maintaining long-term walking habit
