Effects of prescribed low-intensity resistance exercise on prehypertension and other related factors in individuals living within Homa Bay Township, Western Kenya

Prehypertension is the precursor to hypertension. It’s anticipated that prehypertension will affect one-third of the population worldwide by 2025. For instance, Homa Bay County Hospital has reported increase of pre-hypertensive patients over the past 5 years. Thus, this study aimed to determine the effects of prescribed low-intensity resistance exercise on prehypertension and other related factors in individuals living within Homa Bay Township. A randomized controlled trial study design was employed on 34 (17 experimental and 17 controls) pre-hypertensive adults. Participants performed prescribed low-intensity resistance exercise for a period of 3 months. Blood pressure, biochemical, and anthropometric data were collected on pre, mid, and post-training. ANOVA with a within-subjects factor of time, and treatment type was used to determine the differences between the two groups. Except for BMI [F (1, 32) =8.06, p=0.008], the study found that the prescribed low-intensity resistance exercise did not affect other anthropometric measurement of pre-hypertensive individuals. Prescribed low-intensity resistance exercises significantly, F (1, 32) =5.01, p=0.03, lowered the pre-hypertensive pressure in the experimental group to normotensive at post-study (from 127.59+5.01 to 115.88+6.06 mmHg systolic pressure) as compared to the control group (from 128.94+4.64 to 122.47+2.87 mmHg systolic pressure). Although lipid profiles and fasting blood glucose decreased in both experimental and control groups, the decline was more marked in the experimental group, suggesting that prescribed low-intensity exercise could decrease the variables. This study provides evidence that prescribed low-intensity resistance exercises prescription in prehypertension can prevent progression to hypertension.