Ground golf-induced changes in the blood pressure of healthy elderly people

Abstract Background Ground golf is a popular sport among the elderly in Japan. Several types of exercise can reduce the body's mean arterial pressure (MAP), but little is known about how ground golf affects the MAP. We investigated the effects of ground golf on the MAP and the oxygen uptake (V̇O2$$ \dot{\mathrm{V}}{\mathrm{O}}_2 $$) in a healthy elderly population. Participants and methods Thirteen elderly Japanese people (3 males and 10 females, mean age of 66 years) participated. All participants played 8 holes of ground golf 6 times, as game (G)1 to G6. The MAP, heart rate (HR), and V̇O2$$ \dot{\mathrm{V}}{\mathrm{O}}_2 $$ were measured at rest and every 5 min during each game. Results A linear trend analysis revealed that participants’ MAP values progressively decreased as each game proceeded with marginal differences (p = 0.054). There were no significant differences in HR between at rest and any of the games. The V̇O2$$ \dot{\mathrm{V}}{\mathrm{O}}_2 $$ during the games (except for G6) were significantly higher than that at-rest (p < 0.05). The resting MAP values were negatively associated with the ground golf-induced changes in MAP (r = 0.786, p = 0.001). The participants with greater changes in V̇O2$$ \dot{\mathrm{V}}{\mathrm{O}}_2 $$ during the games showed significantly greater reductions in MAP (r = 0.276, p = 0.043). Conclusions Playing ground golf reduced the participants’ MAP and increased their V̇O2$$ \dot{\mathrm{V}}{\mathrm{O}}_2 $$. Participants with higher resting MAP experienced greater reductions in MAP by playing ground golf, which suggests that ground golf can be a useful recreational sport for the elderly.