Hydrotherapy and arterial stiffness in pregnancy (2020)

Home / Knowledge / Macêdo Linhares (2020) Hydrotherapy Reduces Arterial Stiffness in Pregnant Women with Chronic Hypertension (A Hidroterapia Reduz a Rigidez Arterial em Gestantes Hipertensas Crônicas)

In short: This 2020 study measured the effect of a single hydrotherapy session on arterial stiffness in pregnant women with chronic hypertension and in pregnant women without hypertension. Arterial stiffness and heart rate decreased in both groups after the session; the decrease in blood pressure was not significant.

About this study

Macêdo Linhares and colleagues carried out a cross-sectional study in 36 pregnant women (12 with chronic hypertension and 24 controls), aged 30.4 on average and at about 29 weeks of pregnancy. Blood pressure, heart rate and arterial stiffness (augmentation index at a heart rate of 75 bpm, AIx@75) were measured with the Mobil-O-Graph device before and after a standardized hydrotherapy session with stretching, warming up, strengthening and relaxation. The article is published in Portuguese with an English abstract.

Main findings

Arterial stiffness (AIx@75) decreased significantly after the session in the hypertension group (from 28.8% to 22.4%; p = 0.024) and in the control group (from 29.1% to 22.9%; p = 0.001).
Heart rate decreased significantly in both groups (hypertension group from 93.4 to 82.4 bpm; control group from 91.4 to 81.5 bpm).
The decrease in blood pressure was not statistically significant.

The authors conclude

The authors conclude that a hydrotherapy session acutely reduces arterial stiffness and may be a potential non-pharmacological strategy to prevent maternal and fetal complications in pregnant women with chronic hypertension.

Limitations

The study measured the effect of one session only (acute effect) in a small group; longer-term effects on pregnancy outcomes were not studied.

Source

Linhares GM, Machado AV, Malachias MVB. Hydrotherapy Reduces Arterial Stiffness in Pregnant Women with Chronic Hypertension. Arquivos Brasileiros de Cardiologia. 2020. doi: 10.36660/abc.20190055. Published under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licence.