Body mass index as a predictor of hypertension in the elderly

Objective: To examine the relationship between BMI and prediction of elderly high blood pressure. Materials and Methods: This is a descriptive research, consisting of a sample of 35 elderly female residents of the city of Bayeux, with a mean age of 68.85 +/- 7.60 years. For data collection was used a form of history of the individual, and the measurement of blood pressure (BP), weight and height as well. Based on these data was calculated the body mass index (BMI) of each individual. Results: From the data found in the research, became possible to build charts and graphs, that refer to the descriptive results that characterized the group as well as the Pearson correlation between BMI, systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure. Based on data presented in the table above, we found that the mean BMI of 26.67, is a pattern of overweight according to WHO (World Health Organization) and a maximum value of 39.84 is considered as obesity level II, the mean SBP of 141.51, is considered mild hypertension, and DBP of 79.04 can be considered normal. According to Pearson's correlation found that both the DBP and for SBP there is a correlation with regard to BMI, i.e. high levels of BMI may be a predictor of high blood pressure because the pressure increases as BMI increases. We conclude that this study in its observation found that there is a relationship between the variables BMI and high blood pressure, since the results were certifying to such assertion.