THE EFFECTS OF WALKING EXERCISE ON OLDER ADULT HYPERTESNSIVE PATIENTS AMONG YEKA SUB CITY WOREDA 12 COMMUNITIES HEALTH CENTER IN ADDIS ABABA ETHIOPIA

Walking is an important locomotors skill that is used in everyday activities such as walking to<br> the market or to work, as well as in sports, play; this includes brisk walking, race walking, tai<br> chi walking, Nordic walking and dance activities. The objective of this study was to investigate<br> the effects of walking exercise on older adult hypertensive patients among yeka sub city woreda<br> 12 community health center. The methodology of the study was employed true experimental<br> research design. The total population of the study was 200 hypertensive outpatients were<br> selected as a sample by using purposive sampling technique thirty male older adult hypertensive<br> patients of yeka sub city woreda 12 community health center aged 6o-69 years had divided<br> randomly into two equal groups. Both the experimental group (n = 15) and control group (n =<br> 15). The experimental group had taken walking exercise with BP medication for eight weeks with<br> 3 sessions per week, each lasting 30 to 60 minutes. Control group has taken BP medication and<br> their typical program. Both groups had taken pre and post-testing and all the subjects<br> participated in systolic and diastolic was measured by using digital sphygmomanometer test,<br> cardio respiratory fitness by using resting heart rate and body composition by using accue<br> caliper skin fold test and waist circumference by using meter. The primary data sources were<br> collect from pre to post test result of subjects. The data collected from the study subject was<br> analyzed by using SPSS version 26 software by descriptive statistics, paired t-test and<br> independent t test to compare the groups with level of significant 0.05. Cohen-d&gt;0.5 was<br> employed to summarize health status. Results showed walking exercise had significantly<br> improved systolic and diastolic, Cardio-respiratory fitness and body composition at<br> p&lt;0.05.Based on this finding, it can be concluded that walking exercise has reduce systolic and<br> diastolic blood pressure and % of body fat, improve Cardio-respiratory fitness, has a large effect<br> size systolic diastolic blood pressure, resting heart rate, %body fat and skin fold value and waist<br> circumference medium effect size. Therefore, walking exercise is suggested to older adult<br> hypertensive patients for improving health. The results of this study indicated that walking<br> exercise leads to significant reduction in both systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Accordingly,<br> walking exercise can be part of the treatment plan for older adult hypertensive patients.