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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health

Sec. Aging and Public Health

Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1555638

This article is part of the Research TopicExploring the Role of Exercise in Hypertension and Blood Pressure VariabilityView all 6 articles

The relationship between hypertension and health related physical fitness in elder residences in Wuhan: a crosssectional study

Provisionally accepted
Wen  LuoWen Luo1Xi  ChenXi Chen1Jue  WangJue Wang2Sisi  KeSisi Ke1Wei  ZhangWei Zhang1Mei  YangMei Yang3*Yan  GuoYan Guo1*
  • 1Wuhan Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Wuhan, China
  • 2Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital of Hongshan District, Wuhan, Wuhan, China
  • 3Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Aim: To investigate hypertension-associated disparities in health-related physical fitness (HRPF) among community-dwelling elders in Wuhan. Methods: This cross-sectional study employed multi-stage stratified random sampling: random selection of 7 districts from Wuhan's 17 administrative districts; random selection of 3-5 communities per district. Recruitment of 801 eligible adults aged ≥65 years (after exclusions); Sample size was determined using 2015 municipal census data (α=0.05, power=90%). Assessments included: hypertension verification and demographic questionnaires; seven standardized HRPF tests across four domains. Data analysis utilized SPSS 13.0 with: descriptive statistics (means ± SDs, 95% CIs); between-group comparisons (χ² tests, ANOVA). Results: hypertensive participants (n=291) demonstrated impaired dynamic balance: reduced one-leg balance (OLB) time (3.38±3.30s vs 3.98±3.81s; P=0.02). Decreased aerobic endurance: fewer 2-minute step repetitions (65.62±29.17 vs 70.13±26.71; P=0.033). Enhanced shoulder flexibility: greater back scratch reach (-14.11±12.36cm vs -10.47±11.15cm; P<0.001). Conclusions: hypertension associates with domain-specific HRPF impairments, particularly in balance and aerobic endurance. Targeted exercise interventions prioritizing these domains may mitigate functional decline and reduce cardiovascular burden in aging populations.

Keywords: Hypertension, Health-related physical fitness (HRPF), Aging Population, cross-sectional study, Wuhan

Received: 05 Jan 2025; Accepted: 14 Jul 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Luo, Chen, Wang, Ke, Zhang, Yang and Guo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence:
Mei Yang, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430081, Hubei Province, China
Yan Guo, Wuhan Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Wuhan, China

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