[Effects of physical exercise on cardiovascular risk and quality of life in hypertensive elderly people].

The scope of this article is to evaluate the effects of a mixed protocol of physical exercises on cardiovascular risk (CVR), quality of life and the presence of depressive symptoms in elderly hypertensive patients. It involved a longitudinal, prospective and quasi-experimental study with 48 elderly individuals. A physical exercise protocol was developed for 16 weeks according to American College of Sports Medicine, and anthropometric variables (weight, height, body mass index and waist circumference), as well as biochemical variables (total cholesterol, LDL-c, HDL-c; triglycerides) were evaluated. The mean age was 66.5±4.8 years. The frequent CVR factors were dyslipidemia (58.3%) and sedentary lifestyle (45.8%). After intervention, there was a reduction in mean values of total and LDL-cholesterol and increased HDL-cholesterol levels. The CVR and global risk score decreased significantly. The frequency of depressive symptoms decreased from 25% to 4.2%. An improvement was observed in SF-36 physical, health and vitality domains. The mixed protocol of physical exercises constituted a possible low cost and effective alternative in the improvement of the lipid profile and the quality of life related to the health of the elderly who participated in this research.