Effect of Water Drinking on the Postprandial Fall of Blood Pressure in the Elderly

Son, Jung Tae; Lee, Eunjoo

Abstract

PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to examine preventive effects of water drinking on postprandial fall of blood pressure in the elderly. METHOD: Participants were 25 elders who had experienced postprandial fall of systolic blood pressure of more than 15mmHg in a previous study. Within subject repeated measures design using random order allocation was used to control extraneous variables among participants. During the experiment, each participant had to drink 400mL water before lunch, whereas when in the control, they only had their lunch. Blood pressure and heart rate were measured for both times before lunch and at 15 minutes intervals up to 90 minutes after lunch. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, repeated measures of ANOVA, paired t-test and Bonferroni adjustment as Post-hoc analysis.
RESULTS
Water drinking before lunch elicited significant pressor effects by increasing systolic and diastolic pressure 13.9+/-4.7/5.2+/-2.2mmHg compared blood pressure during the control (p<.005, p<.022). Heart rate, however, did not change significantly at either time.
CONCLUSION
Drinking water before meal is recommended for elders who experience postprandial hypotension. However, the appropriate volume of water to prevent postprandial fall in blood pressure should be further studied.