Healthy lifestyle-behaviour of hypertensive patients at Primary Health Care (PHC) facilities of Greater Giyani Subdistrict, Mopani District, Limpopo Province

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Hypertension is a global health burden affecting developed and developing countries, including South Africa. Moreover, the high prevalence of hypertension worldwide contributes to the present and anticipated pandemic of CVD, which is of particular concern in developing countries. PURPOSE: The purpose of the study was to determine healthy lifestyle-behavior of hypertensive patients at Primary Health Care facilities in Greater Giyani Subdistrict, Mopani District, Limpopo Province. METHODOLOGY: Descriptive cross-sectional study was used with quantitative method. A total of 413 patients who were diagnosed of hypertension were randomly selected from the ten clinics of Greater Giyani Subdistrict in Limpopo Province. Data was collected using questionnaires and analysed using SPSS. RESULTS: The overall participant rate in this study was satisfactory with 413 respondents being part of the study. Female respondents were at 77.88%, while male respondents were at 22.14%. Most of the respondents in this study were Tsonga speaking people at 78.38%, followed by Sepedi speaking people at 9.58% and at 7.37% were Venda speaking people. The findings of this study revealed that most of the respondents (91.39%) did not smoke cigarettes. Only 16.2% of the respondents reported that they engaged in vigorous-intensity activities. Regarding physical activities, 33.69% were overweight, followed by healthy weight at 32.35%, then 24.87% were obese and 9.09% were underweight. The findings also revealed that 52.65% of the respondents reported using bicycle or walking as part of exercising. It was revealed that 92.5% of the respondents eat breakfast every day, with 59% eating breakfast 4-7 times in a week, 31.8% eating breakfast 1-3 times a week, 9.2% never eat breakfast, and 69% of the respondents reported skipping meals. The patterns of these activities were discussed in relation to their implications to a healthy lifestyle among the hypertension patients. CONCLUSION: Based on the findings of the study, the researcher has concluded that majority of respondents having hypertension did not consume alcohol and use tobacco.