SEDENTARY LIFESTYLE AND NUTRITION AS A PERCIEVED CAUSES OF HYPERTENSION AMONG THE ELDERLY ATTENDING CENTRAL HOSPITAL BENIN CITY, EDO STATE

Abstract

Hypertension is now a burden to the society and several modifiable risk factors contribute directly to this
burden. The purpose for this study was to investigate sedentary lifestyle and nutrition as perceived causes of
hypertension among elderly people attending central hospital Benin City, Edo State. Descriptive survey research
design was used for this study. The population comprised of all elderly people attending central hospital Benin
city totaling 400. Systematic sampling technique was used to select 200 elderly people attending the clinic. A
self structured questionnaire was used to elicit information from the respondents. The validity of the instrument
was ascertained by three experts from the department of health, safety and environmental education university
of Benin. While test-retest method was used to test reliability, reliability coefficient of 0.73r. The hypotheses
were tested with chi-square statistical method at 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed that sedentary
lifestyle significantly causes hypertension since calculated x2 value of 105.6 > table x2 value of 16.92. It was
concluded that, sedentary lifestyle and nutrition significantly cause hypertension among elderly people attending
central hospital Benin city, Edo State. It was, therefore, recommended in the study that; elderly people should
avoid sitting, watching and lying down for more than reasonable hours.