Abstract:
Prehypertension is the highly risk for developing hypertension and cardiovascular disease. Moderate exercise training decreases blood pressure significantly. A quasi-experimental study was used to measure the outcome of home-based moderate exercise program. The subjects were 60 rural adults with prehypertension who were randomly assigned into an exercise (n = 30) and control (n = 30) group. The home-based moderate exercise program was aerobic exercise. Type of exercise was decided by the participants included brisk walking, jogging, or bicycling. Moderate intensity was determined by a target of 60-70% maximal heart rate. Home-based exercise was performed three times per week with the duration of 30 minutes each, for four weeks. Data were analyzed by percentage, mean, standard deviation, Chi-square, independent t-test, and paired t-test. The results revealed that systolic blood pressure of the exercise group was significantly reduced in second, third and fourth weeks compare to baseline (t = 3.56; 7.00; 7.19, p < 0.001, respectively) as similar to diastolic blood pressure (t = 4.12; 5.22; 6.84, p < 0.001, respectively), whereas systolic and diastolic blood pressure of the control group were not significantly reduced (p > 0.05). Systolic blood pressure of the exercise group was significantly lower than the control group in the third and fourth weeks (t = -2.43; -2.60, p < 0.01) as similar to diastolic blood pressure (t = -1.79; -2.25, p < 0.05). The outcomes of this study suggest a practical of the utilization of the exercise program to reduce risk of hypertension in rural adults with prehypertension.
WALAILAK UNIVERSITY. CENTER FOR LIBRARY RESOURCES AND EDUCATIONAL MEDIA