Association of Hypertension with Sedentary Lifestyle Among Elderly in Urban Population

Background: Hypertension or high blood pressure, is a non-communicable disease that is a major contributor to develop cardiovascular disease and mortality worldwide. A sedentary lifestyle characterized by limited physical activity has been known as a risk factor for hypertension. Objective: To explore the relationship between hypertension and sedentary behavior among the elderly in an urban population. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted on older adults diagnosed with hypertension in urban areas. A sample of 172 participants was recruited using non-probability convenient sampling. Data was collected from various hospitals in urban areas and analyzed using SPSS version 25. The modified WHO STEPS instrument was used to gather information on physical activity and blood pressure. The non-parametric tests were performed due to non-homogenous and non-normally distributed data. The chi-square test was used to compare categorical variables and a 5% level of significance (p-value less than 0.05) was applied. Results: The study found that 91.3% of the 172 participants had been diagnosed with hypertension within the last 12 months. Among those with hypertension, 61.8% spent 12-17 hours in sedentary behavior, 30.6% spent 7-11 hours, 7% spent 18-24 hours, and only 0.6% spent 0-6 hours in sedentary behavior. In contrast, among those without hypertension, 60% spent 0-6 hours in sedentary behavior. The study also found that 88.5% of participants with hypertension performed less than 600 METS minutes/week of physical activity, while only 9.6 and 1.9% performed 600-3000 METS minutes/week and ≥3000 METS minutes/week respectively, while 88.5% were physically inactive. Conclusion: The study found a positive association between hypertension and a sedentary lifestyle among the elderly in urban areas, with most participants being diagnosed with hypertension and physically inactive. The study also found an increase in sedentary behavior with age and higher levels of physical activity among women.