The Effect of Physical Activity on Blood Pressure In The Elderly With Hypertension

Abstract

Background: Hypertension is a condition where the systolic blood pressure is above 140 mmHg and the diastolic blood pressure is above 90 mmHg. Physical exercise can encourage the heart to work optimally by causing a decrease in heart rate and cardiac output resulting in a decrease in blood pressure. This study aims to analyze the effectiveness of physical exercise on blood pressure in the elderly. Subject and Method: This was a systematic review and meta-analysis. The data was obtained through journal databases including Science Direct and Google Scholar by selecting articles published in 2012-2022. The keywords used were ("Physical activity" OR "Exercise" OR "Exercise Training") AND ("Older" OR "Elderly") AND "Blood Pressure" AND "Hypertension" AND "Randomized Controlled Trial". The inclusion criteria were full paper articles Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) research method. The size relationship used's of Mean SD, the intervention given was Physical Activity; elderly research subjects were 60-75 years old and experienced hypertension. Search articles were done by using the PICO model. Population = Elderly with hypertension, Intervention = Physical Activity, Comparison = not given physical activity, and Outcome = decreased blood pressure. Articles were collected by using PRISMA flow diagrams and analyzed using the Revman 5.3 application. Result: Meta-analysis of 3 articles showed that physical activity could reduce blood pressure by 0.96 times higher compared to other interventions or no intervention (SMD= -0.96; 95% CI= -1.79 to -0.14; p= 0.020) for systolic blood pressure and 0.20 times higher compared to other intervention or no intervention (SMD= -0.20; 95% CI= -0.59 to 0.20; p= 0.330) for diastolic blood pressure. Conclusion: Physical activity can reduce blood pressure in the elderly with hypertension.