Association Between Physical Activity and Prevention of Hypertension Among Adults in Mbarara city, Western Uganda

In Africa, the involvement in Physical Activity in adults is 20.9% according to WHO (Kirunda et al., 2016). In Uganda, there is limited data on the level of Physical Activity and physical inactivity. However, most Non Communicable Diseases including hypertension in Uganda have been attributed to lack of Physical Activity. Hypertension is rising steadily and results from the countrywide survey indicate that prevalence of hypertension is 26.4% within the population (Guwatudde et al., 2015). Annually 500,000 deaths occur in Uganda due to hypertension (Ministry of health, 2021). This study set out to examine the association between physical activity and prevention of hypertension among people aged 40 years and above in Mbarara city, Uganda. The specific objectives followed: 1. To determine the prevalence of hypertension among people aged 40 years and above in Mbarara city, Uganda. 2. To determine the factors associated with involvement in physical activity among people aged 40 years and above in Mbarara city, Uganda. 3. To assess the relationship between physical activity and prevention of hypertension among people aged 40 years and above in Mbarara city, Uganda This study used a cross-sectional design and involved quantitative approaches of data collection with a total of 384 respondents. Data were collected using administered questionnaire between June and July 2024. The data collected was analyzed using STATA software version 18. The study found that the overall prevalence of hypertension was 28.9% (95% CI: 24.4%-33.4%). Females had a higher prevalence of hypertension at 30.5% (95% CI: 24.6%-36.4%) than males at 26.3% (95% CI: 19.3%-33.4%). Hypertension was most prevalent among participants aged 50-59 years at 51.8% (95% CI: 41.1%-62.4%) and among those who were obese at 37.8%. Although there was no statistically significant association between physical activity and hypertension (p>0.05), the results showed that physically active participants had lower odds of hypertension (OR=0.622, 95% CI: 0.374-1.036) than physically inactive participants. The prevalence of hypertension was lower among physically active participants (26.6%) than among physically inactive participants (36.8%). There is need to formulate and implement interventions aimed at reducing physical inactivity through health education, policy formulation, and provision of facilities in cities where physical activity and exercise can be done.