OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of the aerobic exercise training on functional capacity (FC) and blood pressure (BP) control in hypertensive stage I or controlled hypertension postmenopausal women in a primary care unit (PCU). METHODS: Before and after 12 weeks of aerobic exercise training in a PCU, 10 hypertensive postmenopausal women age 56.9 ± 5.98, sedentary, non-users of hormone replacement therapy were submitted to: the evaluation of the body mass index (BMI); the waist circumference (WC); the FC by ergometric test (oxygen uptake/VO2, duration of the test) and six minute walk test (walked distance); and repeated casual measures of BP. Revaluations were made for each 30 days. Data were presented in mean and standard deviation and analyzed by Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, paired Student's t-test, Wilcoxon and a repeated-measures ANOVA considering p < 0.05. RESULTS: No significant difference was found in BMI (p = 0.40) and WC (p = 0.74) after training. However, after 30 days, a reduction had already been observed in systolic BP (from 142.70 ± 6.25 to 130.76 ± 5.80 mmHg, p < .001) and diastolic (from 87.03 ± 4.48 to 81.90 ± 4.30 mmHg, p = .002) and also a significant improvement of functional capacity by VO2 (from 24.90 ± 6.38 to 27.82 ± 6.14 mL/kg/min, p = .028), duration of the test (from 6.89 ± 1.78 to 7.70 ± 1.80 min, p = .022) and distance walked (from 511.07 ± 41.99 to 556.1 ± 43.19 m, p = .009). CONCLUSION: The aerobic exercise training program in a primary care unit was effective and viable as a strategy to reduce the BP and to improve the functional capacity in hypertensive postmenopausal women.
Hypertension; Aerobic training; Menopause; Primary health care
