ORIGINAL ARTICLES   

Gazzetta Medica Italiana-Archivio per le Scienze Mediche 2009 June;168(3):149-56

Copyright © 2009 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Functional fitness and blood pressure in low-income Brazilian elderly women

Virtuoso Júnior J. S. ¹, Tribess S. ², Romo Perez V. ³, Oliveira Guerra R. ⁴

¹ Department of Health Sciences Statal University of Santa Cruz, Bahia, Brazil 2 Department of Physical Education Federal University of Piauí, Teresina, Piauí, Brazil 3 Faculty of Educational and Sport Sciences University of Vigo, Pontevedra, Spain 4 Department of Physiotherapy Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil

Aim. Behavior related to physical activity positively contributed to blood pressure levels. However, the relation between blood pressure and the consequence of such behavior, which is functional fitness, is little known. This study aims at determining the relation of functional ability to blood pressure in elderly women.
Methods. This is a cross-sectional study of a representative sample of 208 women, with the average age of 70 years (±7.1) belonging to social communities and living in the urban zone of a city in the Brazilian Northeastern region. Several physical examinations were done to assess their functional ability. In addition to this, systolic/diastolic blood pressures were taken, and an interview containing questions related to social and demographic variables, to clinical conditions, health perception, to physical and behavioral conditions was conducted. The multiple analysis of logistic regression was used as a statistical procedure with a significance level P<0.05.
Results. Results obtained indicate there is a relation between the aspects of functional ability and systolic/diastolic blood pressure, and that such co-relation is more clearly identified in the elderly age bracket. Among the aspects which appeared to explain the variation of blood pressure levels, aerobic resistance and the Body Mass Index (BMI) are pointed out.
Conclusion. Blood pressure levels in elderly women are related to functional fitness, with the perceived variation of components of the functional fitness related to the variation of blood pressure as a function of age bracket.