Awareness and practice of aerobic exercise and yoga among hypertensive patients in Anand city

BACKGROUND: Aerobic exercise is helpful in reducing elevated blood pressure (BP). It was also found that yoga is useful in reducing raised BP. Thus, they both can be used in prevention and treatment of hypertension. Hence, the study aimed to observe both awareness and practice of aerobic exercise and yoga among hypertensive patients in Anand city. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted. A questionnaire was prepared containing 24 questions about awareness and practice of aerobic exercise and yoga among hypertensive patients. The questions were explained to all the patients, and 200 patients were recruited from Anand city through convenience sampling. RESULTS: Two-hundred patients were included in this study, of which 100% were aware of hypertension. 67.68% were aware of the role of aerobic exercise in hypertension, of which 58.29% practiced them. The awareness of the role of yoga in hypertension was noted in 33.67% of patients, of which only 13.07% practiced pranayama and 9.50% practiced asanas. CONCLUSION: There was a complete awareness of hypertension among hypertensive patients. A large number of patients were aware of the role of aerobic exercise in hypertension, but only few of the patients practiced them. However, there was less awareness of the role of yoga in hypertension and even lesser number practiced them.