SynthesisInternational journal of environmental research and public health2020
The Efficacy of Stretching Exercises on Arterial Stiffness in Middle-Aged and Older Adults: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized and Non-Randomized Controlled Trials.
Synthesis in International journal of environmental research and public health, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Musculoskeletal Stretching and Arterial Stiffness: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Acute and Longitudinal Interventions.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2026Pooled it
- Comparative effectiveness of exercise modalities and doses on carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity in adults: a systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine · 2026Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Effects of aerobic, strength, and combined training during pregnancy in the blood pressure: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in physiology · 2022Pooled it
- Effects of Elastic Band Exercise on Functional Fitness and Blood Pressure Response in the Healthy Elderly.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Trial
- Six weeks stretching of lower limbs lowers blood pressure in hypertensive individuals.European journal of applied physiology · 2026Article
- One of These Things Is Not Like the Others: Disentangling the Concepts of Range of Motion Versus Flexibility, and Flexibility Training Versus Stretching.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2026Article
- What are the neurological, neurovascular, and psychological responses to stretching across the general population?European journal of applied physiology · 2026Review
- Effects of Different Types of Stretching on Hypertension: A Systematic Review with Exploratory Meta-Analysis.Journal of functional morphology and kinesiology · 2026Review
- Role of sex and training characteristics on exercise effects on cardiovascular aging: protocol for a systematic review with meta-analysis of randomized trials.Systematic reviews · 2024Article
- Article
- What We Do Not Know About Stretching in Healthy Athletes: A Scoping Review with Evidence Gap Map from 300 Trials.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2024Article
- The knowledge of movement experts about stretching effects: Does the science reach practice?PloS one · 2024Article
- Developing lifestyle intervention program for pre-hypertensive patients; consensus building using a modified Delphi approach.PloS one · 2024Article
- Fourteen weeks of multicomponent training associated with flexibility training modifies postural alignment, joint range of motion and modulates blood pressure in physically inactive older women: a randomized clinical trial.Frontiers in physiology · 2023Article
- Impact of Exercise on Vascular Function in Middle-Aged and Older Adults: A Scoping Review.Sports (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Effect of Physical Activity/Exercise on Oxidative Stress and Inflammation in Muscle and Vascular Aging.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Review
- Effects of Different Long-Term Exercise Modalities on Tissue Stiffness.Sports medicine - open · 2022Review
- Regular exercise ball training reduces arterial stiffness in sedentary middle-aged males.Journal of physical therapy science · 2022Article
- Microvascular Adaptations to Muscle Stretch: Findings From Animals and the Elderly.Frontiers in physiology · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAerobic exercise is known to reduce arterial stiffness; however, high-intensity resistance exercise is associated with increased arterial stiffness. Stretching exercises are another exercise modality, and their effect on arterial stiffness remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to determine whether stretching exercises reduce arterial stiffness in middle-aged and older adults, performing the first meta-analysis of currently available studies.
methodsWe searched the literature for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and non-RCTs published up to January 2020 describing middle-aged and older adults who participated in a stretching intervention vs. controls without exercise training. The primary and secondary outcomes were changes in arterial stiffness and vascular endothelial function and hemodynamic status. Pooled mean differences (MDs) and standard MDs (SMDs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) between the intervention and control groups were calculated using a random effects model.
resultsWe identified 69 trials and, after an assessment of relevance, eight trials, including a combined total of 213 subjects, were analyzed. Muscle stretching exercises were shown to significantly reduce arterial stiffness and improve vascular endothelial function (SMD: -1.00, 95% CI: -1.57 to -0.44,
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.