The effects of hypertension on physical activity and psychosocial state in individuals 35 years of age and more

Hypertension is a complex disease that affects many organs and body systems negatively unless it is not controlled effectively. Besides, it is the number one risk factor among the world's leading causes of death with its target organ damage. In this study conducted in Bartın, it was aimed to investigate the effects of hypertension on physical activity level and psychosocial state in individuals 35 years of age and more diagnosed with hypertension, and deal with the factors influencing hypertension and the arising problems. 223 hypertensive patients participated in the study. Life Quality Scale, Brief Symptom Inventory, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, International Physical Activity Questionnaire and socio-demographic questionnaire prepared by the researcher were utilized as data collection tools. Kruskal Wallis test, Mann Whitney U test, Chi-square test, T- test, ANOVA test were used for analyzing the data. Mean age of the participants is 60,3±11,4 and %50,5 of them were female. Furthermore, the number of obese people was quite high (%49,5). The mean score of Life Quality Scale was found as 64,7±15.4 and it was found out that the averages of all Life Quality Scale subcores were higher with those joining in physical activities. Brief Symptom Inventory general score was found as 0,1±0,1 and it was determined that psychiatric symptom frequency was low. It was detected in the evaluation conducted with Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale that %50,5 had depression tendency and %25,5 had anxiety tendency. The score of International Physical Activity Questionnaire was found as 2773,5±5333,6 and it was dentified that physical activity levels are moderate. As a result, it was found out that there was a meaningful relationship between physical activity levels and life quality scores. Hypertensive patients should be recommended to join in physical activities as considering physical activities contribute to the increase in life quality. Key Words: Physical activity, hypertension, 35 years of age and more, psychosocial state, body mass index.