Descriptive epidemiology of prevalence of exercise habits among participants with hypertension: The National Health and Nutrition Survey 2013–2018

Background

The current Japanese hypertension management guidelines (2019) recommend regular exercise for all patients with hypertension. However, limited evidence is available regarding the prevalence of exercise habits in these patients. Therefore, we examined the proportion of participants who met the recommendations on exercise in the Japanese hypertension management guidelines (2019) using a nationally representative sample.

Methods

Participants aged ≥20 years from the Japanese National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey conducted from 2013 to 2018 were included. Participants with hypertension were defined as those with blood pressure level ≥140/90 mmHg or those who used antihypertensive drugs. Adherence to the guideline recommendations, stratified by gender, age category, blood pressure level, and medication status, was examined.

Results

This study included 13,414 participants with hypertension (age 68.2 ± 11.7 years, 48.1% men). Among them, 31.8% of participants with hypertension (36.8% of men and 27.3% of women) met the guidelines. Regarding age, the 20–64 years age group had the lowest proportion of patients who met the guidelines (22.4%), followed by those in the 65–74 (37.7%) and ≥75 years age groups (34.5%). Adherence to the guidelines did not significantly differ according to blood pressure levels (<120/<80, 120–129/<80, 130–139/80–89, 140–159/90–99, and 160–179/100–109 mmHg) and presence of antihypertensive medications.

Conclusion

One-third of participants with hypertension engaged in exercise as recommended by the current hypertension management guidelines. Promotion of exercise therapy and monitoring exercise habits among participants with hypertension is warranted.