Effect of Nordic walking on blood pressure and exercise performance in prehypertension people at Nakhonnayok province

Abstract

Abstract
The objectives of this study were to examine the effects of Nordic walking on blood pressure, exercise performance and quality of life in people with prehypertension. This two-group, quasi-experimental study was conducted on 72 subjects with prehypertension in Srikaang subdistrict, Banna district, Nakhonnayok province. The subjects were selected by purposive sampling technique and divided into Nordic group (n = 35) and control group (n = 37). Subjects were assigned to perform 8-weeks Nordic walking exercise program. Blood pressure, exercise capacity, rate of perceived exertion and quality of life were evaluated before and after exercise program. Data were analyzed using mean, standard deviation, repeated measures ANOVA, student’s paired t-test, and student’s unpaired t-test. After exercise program, systolic blood pressure and rate of perceived exertion (RPE) in experimental group were significantly lower than those of control group (p<0.001). Exercise performance and quality of life in experimental group is significantly higher than control group (p=0.005) and quality of life is (p<0.001), respectively. Nordic walking is an exercise program that can lower blood pressure, decreased rate of perceive exertion, increase exercise performance and increase quality of life in people with prehypertension. This exercise program can be applied as an alternative exercise to prevent hypertension in people with prehypertension in this study.