The effect of overweight and obesity on blood pressure responses and recovery to acute psychological stress in men

Background: Psychological stress is one of many mental health disorders which contribute to the global burden of disease. Overweight and obese individuals may have exaggerated blood pressure responses and delayed recovery from stress.

Objective: To determine the effect of overweight and obesity on blood pressure response and recovery to acute psychological stress.

Design: In a parallel design, lean (BMI 20-25 Kg/m2) and overweight/obese (BMI 27-35 Kg/m2) men aged 50-70 yr completed an acute psychological stress test (60 minutes resting, 30 minutes stress, 90 minutes recovery). Clinical blood pressure (BP) was measured (resting- 5 measurements, stress- 4 measurements, recovery- 6 measurements). The effect of body type on BP responses during resting, stress and recovery was assessed using repeated measures ANOVA (body type x time) with covariates of resting BP and age.

Outcomes: Forty-two men completed the study [lean (n=25), mean±SD BMI 23.5±1.2 kg/m2 and overweight/obese (n=17), BMI 31.2±2.5 kg/m2]. The overweight/obese compared to the lean men were younger (mean±SEM 59.6±1.2 yr versus 63.5±1.0 yr, P=0.015) and had a higher resting systolic BP (SBP) (125.8±2.6 mmHg versus 117.3±2.2 mmHg, P=0.015) and diastolic BP (DBP) (72.3±2.2 mmHg versus 65.8±1.2 mmHg, P=0.007). Overall, there was no effect of body size on BP response to stress (SBP, P=0.422; DBP, P=0.941). During stress for both groups, there was a significant increase in SBP [lean: +26.0±2.5 mmHg, overweight/obese: +20.6±2.8 mmHg, P<0.05 for both] and diastolic BP (DBP) [(lean: +16.1±1.8 mmHg, overweight/obese: +15.2±1.6 mmHg, P<0.05 for both]; however, there was no difference in the change in SBP and DBP during stress between the groups, P>0.05 for both. There was no significant difference in recovery time between groups for both SBP and DBP (data not shown, P>0.05).

Conclusion: Older men who were overweight/obese in comparison to lean men had a higher resting BP, but did not appear to have a more exaggerated BP response to stress and delayed recovery after stress.