PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND PATTERN OF BLOOD PRESSURE IN POSTMENOPAUSAL WOMEN WITH HYPERTENSION IN NIGERIA

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Hormonal changes during menopause have been attributed to hypertension-acommon public health concern. This study investigated physical activity (PA) and pattern of bloodpressure (BP) in postmenopausal women newly diagnosed with hypertension and referred for treatmentat the medicine outpatient clinic of a tertiary health facility in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. It comparedBP pattern and adiposity variables [body mass index (BMI) and waist-hip ratio (WHR)] between two PAgroups.METHODS: Purposive sampling technique was used to recruit 220 participants in this cross-sectionalsurvey after obtaining their informed consent. International Physical Activity Questionnaire was used toassess PA level, while a 16-item questionnaire was used to assess socio-demographic and clinical profilesof the women. BP, BMI and WHR were assessed using standard measurement procedures. Descriptivestatistics of mean ± standard deviation were used for data summarization and independent t-test was usedto compare variables between low level and moderate to vigorous level PA groups.RESULTS: Participants’ mean values include: age 61.6 ± 8.5 years, years since menopause 12.75± 8.15,BMI 28.63±4.99kg/m 2 , WHR 1.11±0.08, SBP and DBP 145.9±17.9; 93.7±11.4 mmHg respectively. Meanvalues of SBP, DBP, BMI and WHR were higher among participants with low PA compared to thosewith moderate to vigorous even though the difference was not statistically significant (P>0.05).CONCLUSION: Involvement in moderate to vigorous physical activities among menopausal women inNigeria should be encouraged. This may reduce hypertension and adiposity with a possible control ofcardiovascular disease risk.