NCT03557502

Heat Therapy Versus Exercise Training in Hypertension

Completed NA Results posted Last updated 4 June 2025

What this trial tests

NA trial testing Heat Therapy Group in Hypertension in 44 participants. Completed in 30 December 2023.

Timeline

1 December 2019

Primary endpoint
30 December 2023

30 December 2023

Quick facts

Lead sponsor	University of Oregon
Phase	NA
Status	Completed
Study type	INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation	randomized
Design	parallel
Masking	single
Primary purpose	prevention
Enrollment	44
Start date	1 December 2019
Primary completion	30 December 2023
Estimated completion	30 December 2023
Sites	1 location across United States

Drugs / interventions tested

• Heat Therapy Group
• Aerobic Exercise Group

Conditions studied

• Hypertension — all drugs for Hypertension →
• Cardiovascular Diseases — all drugs for Cardiovascular Diseases →
• Arterial Hypertension — all drugs for Arterial Hypertension →

Sponsor

University of Oregon

Who can join

Adults 35 to 60, any sex, with Hypertension or Cardiovascular Diseases. Patients with the condition only — healthy volunteers not accepted.

Results — posted to ClinicalTrials.gov

Per-arm endpoint measurements with 95% confidence intervals where reported. Source: trial results section.

Blood Pressure Reduction: Change in Systolic and Diastolic Ambulatory Blood Pressure (mmHg) After 30 Sessions of Intervention Primary · 10 weeks

Ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) was measured at baseline (PRE) and after 30 heat therapy or exercise training sessions (POST) over the course of 8-10 weeks. Two individuals performed post-intervention testing after completing only 27 sessions (1 in each group). Participants arrived at the lab and were fitted with an oscillometric blood pressure cuff attached to an ambulatory blood pressure monitor. The monitor was programmed to inflate and assess blood pressure every 20 min during self-reported waking hours and every 60 min during self-reported sleeping hours. Waking and sleeping times and mea

Change in systolic Ambulatory Blood Pressure

Group	Value	95% CI
Heat Therapy Group	-1	-4 – 3
Aerobic Exercise Group	0	-3 – 4

Change in diastolic Ambulatory Blood Pressure

Group	Value	95% CI
Heat Therapy Group	0	-3 – 2
Aerobic Exercise Group	1	-2 – 3

Arterial Stiffness: Change in Carotid-femoral Pulse Wave Velocity (m/s) From Pre (Baseline) to Post (After 30 Sessions of Intervention) Secondary · 10 weeks

Carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (m/s) was measured as a marker of arterial stiffness using a pressure transducing tonometer over the carotid artery and an inflated leg cuff to detect the femoral artery pulse waveform using air displacement at baseline (PRE) and after 30 heat therapy or exercise training sessions (POST) over the course of 8-10 weeks. Two individuals performed post-intervention testing after completing only 27 sessions (1 in each group). Change was calculated as the value at the POST timepoint minus the value at the PRE timepoint.

Group	Value	95% CI
Heat Therapy Group	-0.0	-0.3 – 0.3
Aerobic Exercise Group	-0.1	-0.4 – 0.2

Sponsor's own description

This is a clinical trial to determine whether 30 sessions of heat therapy in the form of hot water immersion is better than 30 sessions of traditional aerobic exercise training on blood pressure reduction in people with elevated or Stage 1 hypertension.

Publications & conference data

1 peer-reviewed publication reference this trial (live from Europe PMC):

1. No effect of either heat therapy or aerobic exercise training on blood pressure in adults with untreated hypertension: a randomized clinical trial.
   Kaiser BW, Comrada LN, Gibson BM, Reed EL, et al · · 2025 · cited 6× · PMID 40407037 · DOI 10.1152/japplphysiol.00959.2024