Blood Pressure After Supervised Physical Exercise Program in Elderly Women With Hypertension

Introduction: The elderly population has increased the levels of chronic diseases such as hypertension (HBP) with prevalence in women. Non-pharmacological interventions, such as exercise, have been indicated by the effectiveness in lowering blood pressure (BP). Objective: To analyze the blood pressure response in elderly hypertensive women in the different moments of a supervised physical exercise program (SPEP). Methods: It consisted of a cross-sectional descriptive study carried out for 18 weeks. 41 elderly women with hypertension, under pharmacological treatment, distributed in the experimental group (EG) (n=26) which participated in the intervention, and control group (CG) (n=15) in two stages: before and after SPEP. BMI, systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) were evaluated at baseline and after 18 weeks of SPEP in the EG and CG. The intra and inter comparison was made with the paired t test and two-way ANOVA with Kruskal Wallis test, with a significance level of p <0.05. Results: The EG (68.7 +/- 8.4 years, BMI = 27.23 +/- 4.73) and CG (67.3 +/- 6.3 years, BMI = 26.13 +/- 4.36), with a prevalence of overweight in all groups, without significant difference after SPEP. There was a correlation between BMI and SBP (r = 0.456, p = 0.01) and between SBP and DBP (r = 0.380, p = 0.01). The initial similarity between the groups was changed by SPEP in EG, remaining in the CG. Intergroup comparison showed differences in SBP (p = 0.000) and DBP (p = 0.005) before and after SPEP and intragroup, with reductions in SBP (Delta = 9.61 mmHg, p = 0.000) and DBP (Delta = 1.54 mmHg, p = 0.043) after SPEP, which did not occur in the CG. Conclusion: The supervised physical exercise program exerted an important model of non-drug treatment in the hypotensive response observed.