Abstract
Background
Considering the magnitude of systemic hypertension (SH) and its complications, as well as the importance of regular physical activity in its prevention and/or treatment, there is a necessity to identify the factors associated with insufficient practice of physical activity.
Objective
To analyze factors associated with insufficient physical activity in hypertensive patients treated at Primary Health Care (PHC).
Method
This cross-sectional study was performed with a random sample of 305 hypertensive patients in three PHC units in São Luis, state of Maranhão, Brazil. A bivariate analysis was performed with estimates of prevalence ratios and confidence intervals, and multivariate analysis using Poisson regression.
Results
Insufficient physical activity was observed in 38.7% of the sample. Insufficient physical activity was associated with having <8 years of formal education (prevalence ratio–PR=1.58; 95% confidence interval-CI=1.04–2.39), total cholesterol ≥200 mg/dL (PR=0.78; 95% CI=0.58–1.04), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol-LDL ≥100 mg/dL (PR=0.79; 95% CI=0.53–0.95), and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol-HDL <40 mg/dL among men and <50 mg/dL among women (PR=1.21; 95% CI=0.90–1.64). Length of education <8 years (PR=1.50; 95% CI=0.99–2.29) and LDL ≥100 mg/dL (PR=0.72;95% CI=0.54–0.96) were also associated in the multivariate regression.
Conclusion
High prevalence of insufficient physical activity and its association with low education level and altered LDL serum levels were observed in hypertensive patients.
Keywords:
motor activity; hypertension; primary health care