Diastolic blood pressure response of apparently healthy pilots to exercise testing

Abstract EN

Objective: The purpose of our study was to ex¬amine the diastolic: blood pressure response of apparently healthy pilots to exercise testing.

Method: A treadmill exercise testing according ft? Bruce's protocol was performed on randomly selected group of 39 apparently healthy pilots as cases and 36 non-pilot air port personnel as con¬trols.

All of the subjects were more than 35 years old, without any history of cardiovascular and pul¬monary diseases and any abnormal paraclinical findings.

Results: The mean total exercise time was not significantly different from the pilots {695.94 sec.(SD=ll7.77)f in the controls f693.22sec (SD=104.22)1 (P=0.90Tke mean systolic blood pressure and heart rate did not differ significantly between the two groups.

The mean diastolic blood pressure at the end of the test was %4,35mmHg (SD^H.3) for the pilot-: and K2.6hnmllg (Sn=7.2)for the controls (p=(l.34).

The mean change in diastolic blood pres-sute(muximum and at rest) was significantly higher in pilots fS,76mmHg (SD=7.97)j than in controls jIMmmllg (SD=6.94), (P~0.027).

IS Pilots (30.5%) had increased diastolic Mood pressure more than lOmmllg in comparison with 7 non-pilots (19.4%) (P<*0.QS).

The exercise testing was stopped due to fatigue in all of the pilots and controls.

Conclusion: Increased diastolic Mood pressure after exercise testing is greater in pilots than con¬trols.

This is in part due to chronic stress and in¬creased baseline cathecolamines.

This increase may be associated with the risk of ischemic heart disease, hypertension and sudden incapacitation.

Paying more attention to diastolic blood pressure after exer¬cise testing as a periodic fitness examination for pilots is warranted.

In the case of increased diastolic blood pressure more than 10 mmllg, closer observa¬tion of the person is recommended.