Comparison of Prehypertensive and Hypertensive Individuals

Blood pressure (BP) is a physiological indicator that occurs due to the change in the pressure exerted by the blood in the vessel during the systole and diastole of the heart, which has similar results among people. The pressure exerted by the blood on the artery wall due to cardiac output and total peripheral resistance is called "arterial blood pressure". Multiple pathophysiological mechanisms can be responsible for elevated blood pressure. In this change, hypertension is defined as conditions in which blood pressure rises above normal values and the pressure generated in the vessel wall can be measured as a numerical (quantitative) value. Many factors can affect arterial blood pressure. Due to these factors, deviations in normal values of blood pressure may occur. While expressing the relationship between high blood pressure and physical activity, the Turkish Society of Cardiology states that individuals with sedentary life habits are more likely to have hypertension by 20-50% compared to those who regularly engage in physical activity. The guideline of the American Joint Committee for the National Assembly emphasizes that keeping blood pressure below 140/90 mmHg values during the HT process will reduce morbidity and mortality rates. The high Charlson comorbidity index results of individuals show that it is associated with high morbidity and mortality rates. Studies have shown that kinesiophobia, which is seen among the causes of high blood pressure in individuals, is associated with musculoskeletal pain, low back pain, fibromyalgia, and coronary artery diseases. Since the decrease in the level of activity is related to the fear of moving, it may be thought that blood pressure may increase in individuals if fear and anxiety are repeated. There is a relationship between activity limitation and age, and individuals over the age of 75 experience limitations in activities, there are studies that show a significant difference between hypertension and activity limitation between individuals who use anti-hypertensive drugs and individuals who do not, as well as studies in which contrary results are reported. Increasing the awareness of individuals about healthy living behaviors greatly impacts the control and follow-up of diseases in the disease process, as well as improving their self-efficacy while undertaking their health responsibilities, thus protecting their health. To make healthy living behaviors a habit, raising awareness of individuals about behavior change processes and what kind of result they can achieve when they do what action they do helps them to increase their self-effectiveness, and it is important to maintain and include them in daily life habits as well as increasing self-effectiveness. Quality of life is a concept determined by individuals' subjective perception and the interaction of physical, psychological, social, and environmental factors. Beyond the health status of the individual, this concept also encompasses his experiences in a wide range of life, functional capacity, mental health, social relations, and environmental interactions. In the literature, it is stated that individuals' physical habits, levels, limitations, personal beliefs, fear of moving, activity performance, and satisfaction are related to their quality of life. There is no study in the literature on the activity performance of hypertensive individuals, so it is thought that our study will make important contributions at the national and international levels. As a result, there are almost no studies comparing prehypertensive and hypertensive individuals in the literature, so it is important to create appropriate treatment programs by taking precautions in the early period. Therefore, this study aimed to compare activity limitation, activity performance level, kinesiophobia, quality of life, self-efficacy levels, physical activity, and comorbidity levels of prehypertensive and hypertensive individuals.