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The Impact of a Resistance Training Intervention on Blood Pressure Control in Older Adults With Sarcopenia

The Impact of a Resistance Training Intervention on Blood Pressure Control in Older Adults With Sarcopenia

Status
Completed
Phases
Unknown
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT04255745
Acronym
INERTIA
Enrollment
77
Registered
2020-02-05
Start date
2020-01-27
Completion date
2025-05-01
Last updated
2026-06-02

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

High Blood Pressure, Hypertension, Sarcopenia

Keywords

cardiovascular disease prevention, aging, exercise, blood pressure, sarcopenia, resistance training, older adults

Brief summary

Current prevention and treatment of high blood pressure (BP) in sarcopenia, by non-pharmacological approaches remain limited and are far from optimal. This randomized control intervention pilot study will provide new evidence of the unexplored relationship between muscle strength and high BP in sarcopenia, and experimentally test the effects of an evidence-based progressive resistance training intervention on BP, while also examining reversibility to identify muscle strength as a non-pharmacological target for BP control in older sarcopenic adults.

Detailed description

This premise of this K01 proposal is to address current gaps in the literature regarding the understanding of high blood pressure due to sarcopenia, and provide new evidence for the discernible relationship between low muscle strength and blood pressure in sarcopenia, and effective non-pharmaceutical treatment approaches. This study will evaluate the feasibility of recruitment, retention, implementation and adherence to an empirically-based progressive resistance training (PRT) intervention to test its effect on blood pressure in a targeted population of older adults with sarcopenia who are randomized (via block permuted scheme) to the PRT intervention. Built within this randomized control intervention design, the investigators will further explore reversibility to examine whether muscle strength serves as an intervention target for blood pressure control in sarcopenic adults, which will be more appropriately tested in subsequently well-powered R-level intervention studies. Physiologically plausible microvascular mechanisms by which the PRT impacts changes in blood pressure will also be explored.

Interventions

BEHAVIORALprogressive resistance training

Individual, tailored, progressive muscle strength and function intervention

Sponsors

University of Illinois at Chicago
Lead SponsorOTHER
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
CollaboratorNIH

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE (Investigator)

Masking description

Primary investigator will be masked to the outcome data collection

Intervention model description

permuted block randomization scheme,

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
60 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

* Adults (men and women) aged 60 years and older (any racial/ethnic background) * Demonstrates adequate cognitive function by the MoCA (education adjusted score of \>22 at screening) * Sedentary or low active adults (not active in strength training) * Resides in the Chicagoland Area * Able to walk/perform exercise without complete dependence on assisted device * Able and willing to enroll and provide written informed consent, i.e., to meet the time and data collection requirements of the study, be randomized to 1 of 2 treatment arms, follow through assignment during 3 months active period, participate in 1 follow-up visit at 12 months

Exclusion criteria

* Subjects with self-report of inability to walk at least ¼ mile or walk 400 meters in \<15 minutes without sitting * Subjects who self-reported having a history of a cardiovascular disease event or physician diagnosed cardiovascular disease (heart attack, heart failure, congenital heart disease, peripheral vascular disease, coronary revascularization, or angina that required overnight hospitalization), cerebrovascular disease (stroke, transient ischemic attack) * Diagnosis of cancer (other than non-melanoma skin cancer) that is/was active or treated with radiation or chemotherapy within the past 5 years; * Subjects with orthopedic pathology or deformity that prevents exercising safely * Diagnosis or history of cognitive impairment (Dementia, Alzheimer's Disease) or bipolar or psychotic disorder or hospitalization for psychological or emotional problems within the last 2 years * Diagnosis of autoimmune diseases, such as (but not limited to) lupus, multiple sclerosis, advanced/severe rheumatoid arthritis that would preclude exercising safely * Diagnosis of advanced or severe osteoporosis or orthopedic deformities that may prevent strength training exercise safely * Participants from the same household as those already enrolled in the study * Current abuser of alcohol or usage of illicit drugs or history of alcohol or drug abuse * Planning to move out of the area or take an extended vacation during the study period * Current or planned participation in in another structured program that overtly focuses on exercise * Currently enrolled or planning to enroll into another research study that would limit full participation in the study * Investigator discretion for clinical safety or protocol adherence reasons

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Change in Blood Pressurebaseline, 12 weekschange in systolic and diastolic blood pressure

Countries

United States

Contacts

PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORDeepika Laddu, PhD

Northwestern University

Participant flow

Recruitment details

Recruitment dates: 01/27/2020 through September 2022. Recruitment was temporarily paused from 03/06/2020 through July 2020 due to the COVID pandemic and university mandated closures of research. Recruitment resumed in August 2020

Pre-assignment details

After enrollment, study eligibility was confirmed via hand grip strength assessment. Clinically meaningful weakness will determine study eligibility is defined as a grip strength \<30kg in men and \<20kg in women. Adults who do not meet the cutoff for low sex-specific grip strength were ineligible to continue.

Baseline characteristics

Characteristic
Age, Continuous70.8 years
STANDARD_DEVIATION 6.18
body mass index30.8 kg per meters squared
STANDARD_DEVIATION 8.55
grip strength18.3 kg
STANDARD_DEVIATION 4.5
Race/Ethnicity, Customized
Black
24 participants
Race/Ethnicity, Customized
Not Black
40 participants
Region of Enrollment
United States
50 participants
Sex: Female, Male
Female
39 Participants
Sex: Female, Male
Male
6 Participants

Adverse events

Event typeEG000
affected / at risk
EG001
affected / at risk
deaths
Total, all-cause mortality
0 / 260 / 45
other
Total, other adverse events
0 / 260 / 45
serious
Total, serious adverse events
0 / 260 / 45

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Jun 3, 2026