Physical activity and prevalence of hypertension in a population-based sample of Brazilian adults and elderly.

Objectives: a) To determine the prevalence of hypertension and its associated factors and b) to establish the impact of past (i.e. adolescence) and current physical activity on hypertension.

Methods: A cross-sectional study of people aged 40 years or more living in the urban area of Pelotas - Brazil (2003). Hypertension was assessed by self-report of medical diagnosis. Individuals were considered active in adolescence if they reported regular physical activity practice between the ages 10 and 19 years. In adulthood, individuals who performed > or =150 min/week of leisure-time physical activities were considered active. Other variables studied included skin color, age, smoking, body mass index and socioeconomic status.

Results: 1696 individuals were interviewed (response rate >95%). Prevalence of hypertension was 34.4% (CI(95%) 32.1-36.7) and varied considerably among population subgroups. Current physical activity showed no association with hypertension. Physical activity in adolescence was associated with a decreased risk of adulthood hypertension in the crude analyses for women (p<0.001). However, after adjusting for potential confounders and mediators, this protection was no longer significant 1.20 (CI(95%) 0.93-1.55).

Conclusions: Prevalence of hypertension is high among Brazilians and markedly different among population subgroups. There was no robust evidence of association between adolescence physical activity practice and hypertension in later life.