The Effects Walking Exercise Program on Blood Pressure as a Related Indicator for Aged Hypertension Patients in Rural Areas

농촌지역 고혈압 노인에서 걷기 운동 프로그램이 혈압관련지표에 미치는 효과

Purpose: This purpose of this study was to examine the effect of a walking exercise program on blood pressure and related factors in older patients with hypertension living in rural areas. Method: The participants were 233 patients with hypertension, 60years or age or over, who were registered at one of 36 public health centers in North Chung Cheong Province and agreed to participate in this study. The program was implemented for 12 weeks from Dec. 2005to Feb. 2006. The data were collected before and right after the program and paired t-test was used to analyze the data. Analysis was done with the SPSS program. Result: Systolic pressure (t=7.460, p=0.000) and diastolic pressure (t=5.309, p=0.000) decreased significantly. Total cholesterol l (t=-9.991, p=0.000), LDL cholesterol and HDL cholesterol (t=-3.180, p=0.000) all increased significantly. There was no change in weight or obesity level. Blood sugar (t=2.218, p=0.028) decreased significantly. Knowledge of hypertension increased significantly as did the self-care behavior of these patients with hypertension. Conclusion: The walking exercise program was found to be effective to control blood pressure in older patients with hypertension in rural areas and to help HDL cholesterol, knowledge of hypertension, and self-care behavior of hypertension increase greatly, while blood sugar level decreased.