Reproducibility of systolic and diastolic blood pressure at rest and in response to submaximal bicycle ergometer tests in middle aged men

The reproducibility of systolic and diastolic blood pressure at rest and in response to standardized ergometric tests was evaluated by test retest. Thirty one medically eligible middle aged men were tested on a bicycle ergometer at 300 and 600 kpm/min; repeat tests were done one week later. The correlation (r) between tests of systolic and diastolic pressure at rest and during exercise was in the range 0.57-0.89. Mean systolic and diastolic pressures during exercise were generally 1-4 mm Hg lower at retest. Decreases in resting systolic pressure of 1-6 mm Hg at retest were statistically significant in 2 of 3 comparisons. Resting diastolic pressure was unchanged. Standard Error of Measurement and Technical Error, measures of intraindividual variability, ranged from 4.0 to 10.0 mm Hg, being slightly less for diastolic than systolic both at rest and during exercise. Test reproducibility was similar at 300 and 600 kpm/min. These data confirm that systolic blood pressure at rest and submaximal exercise are sufficiently stable characteristics of healthy middle aged men to enable their use for longitudinal assessment of groups and individuals.