Reducing the amount of time older adults spend sitting could help improve their blood pressure, according to a study published March 27 in JAMA Network Open.
A team led by researchers at the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute in Seattle conducted the study between 2019 and 2022. They tracked sitting time and blood pressure results from 283 older adults ages 60 to 89 at high risk of hypertension.
Half of the trial participants received 10 health coaching sessions, a tabletop standing desk and fitness band to use during the study period. The control group also received coaching sessions, though these were not focused on decreasing sedentary behaviors.
After six months, participants in the intervention group reduced sedentary time by 31 minutes and their systolic blood pressure was 3.48 mm Hg lower than the control group.
"This randomized clinical trial showed that an intervention to reduce sitting time can be successfully delivered remotely and result in significant reductions in sitting time. These changes led to meaningful reductions in [blood pressure]," researchers concluded. "Interventions that result in less sitting and more standing breaks deserve further study because they could lead to improved cardiovascular outcomes."