Lifestyle of Patients With High Blood Pressure in Rural Areas of Jahrom, Iran

Choosing the wrong lifestyle could underlie the occurrence of serious diseases including hypertension which is a crucial threat to health. This study examined the lifestyle of patients with hypertension in rural health centers of Jahrom, Iran.

This descriptive cross-sectional study was performed on 78 patients with hypertension who were over 30 years old, in Jahrom in 2013. Data was collected using questionnaires and interviews. The questionnaire consisted of two parts of demographic characteristics and behavioral questionnaires reflecting the lifestyle of the study population. Data analysis was performed using the statistical software SPSS19.

The mean age of participants was 14.23±63.02 ranging from 30 to 70 years. %30.8 were male and %69.2 female. Average years of living with hypertension was 5.8± 8.4. Mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure in patients were 14.01±128.39 and 10.44±80.96, respectively. The mean BMI of patients was 4.6±24.8. Blood Pressure of %53.75 of patients was above the defined threshold equal to or greater than patients were smokers and %20.5 of them used hookah. %14.1 of the patients had regular physical activity. The most frequent behaviors were following the physician›s instructions (%61.5) and taking the medicines regularly (%70.5) and the least frequent behaviors were having regular physical activity (%14.1) and avoiding the stress (%17.9).

The results of this study indicated poor lifestyle and behaviors particularly avoiding stress and physical activity. Therefore, education and training is necessary for the studied subjects to adopt healthy lifestyle.