Effect of whole-body vibration on cardiac function and functionality in patients with chronic non-communicable disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Objective: To investigate evidence of the use of whole-body vibration training (WBV) on cardiac autonomic function and functionality in patients with chronic non-communicable diseases related to the cardiovascular, respiratory and metabolic systems. Methods: The search involved Medline/PubMed, Lilacs, PEDro and Scopus databases. Randomized or quasi-randomized controlled trials were eligible for this review when comparing a group of patients with cardiovascular, respiratory or metabolic conditions who trained with WBV with a control group without intervention or other training modalities. Results: A total of 12 studies were included. Subgroup analyzes were performed considering sample size and age of participants. WBV training improved sympathovagal balance and reduced systolic blood pressure in patients with obesity and hypertension. There was a trend towards an increase in the distance covered on the six-minute walk test (6MWT) in COPD patients and a decrease in heart rate (HR) in overweight or obese women and hypertension after WBV, but no difference was found between the groups. No repercussions were observed in kidney transplant patients. Conclusion: WBV can be an alternative training modality to improve cardiac autonomic function and systolic blood pressure in obese and hypertensive patients, with moderate quality of evidence. We suggested that larger studies be carried out to assess the effect of WBV on outcomes such as distance covered in the 6MWT, HR, VO2max, diastolic blood pressure, gait speed and balance.