African-American Women’s Study of Moderate Exercise

An American Heart Association and NIH-sponsored randomized controlled trial of physical activity designed specially for African-American Women.

Investigators
Paul Muntner, PhD, Principal Investigator
Jiang He, MD PhD, Co-Investigator
Paul K. Whelton, MD, MSc, Co-Investigator
Karen DeSalvo, MD ScM, Co-Investigator
Sanathur Srinivasan, PhD Co-Investigator
Loretta Wilson, PhD, Co-InvestigatorFunding Agent
National Institutes of Health
American Heart Association

Participating Institutes
Tulane University Health Sciences Center

Description
Hypertension affects approximately 50 millions Americans, is disproportionately present among African-Americans, and is associated with an increased risk of stroke, coronary heart disease and end-stage renal disease. A recent meta-analysis demonstrated that aerobic exercise reduces blood pressure (BP) among both hypertensives and normotensives. However, there is little data regarding the beneficial effects of aerobic exercise on BP among African-American females with hypertension.

We propose to conduct a randomized controlled trial of aerobic exercise among African-American females. The primary objective of the proposed research study is to test whether aerobic exercise reduces systolic and diastolic BP over a 12-week period. Secondary aims include testing whether aerobic exercise improves the levels of total cholesterol, triglycerides and lipoprotein levels, serum glucose and insulin among African-American females with hypertension

In order to address these objectives, we plan to:
(1) recruit 130 African-American females with SBP>140 mmHg and/or DBP > 90mmHg and/or taking antihypertensive medications
(2) randomly assign them to a aerobic exercise program or to a usual care group
(3) conduct a 12 week intervention program
(4) measure their blood pressure at baseline, 6 weeks, and 12 weeks
(5) perform statistical analyses to determine the effect of the exercise intervention

Differences in the association of physical activity with BP between Whites and African-Americans in epidemiologic studies have been reported. The proposed clinical trial will provide the ability to determine the biological response of exercise on BP among African-American females. Studies have found that the lack of race-sex specific evidence for African-American women influences their health behavior and may partially explain why, compared to Whites and men, African-American women are less likely to participate in exercise. Given the high rates of hypertension, low rates of exercise, and the influence race-sex specific evidence may have on health behavior; the impact of clinical trial results showing a BP-lowering effect of exercise is tremendous.