Facilitators and barriers to physical activity among patients with hypertension attending selected hypertension clinics in Mbarara City, Southwestern Uganda: A cross-sectional study

Background Physical activity is a proven non-pharmacological intervention in the management of hypertension significantly reducing the risk of cardiovascular complications. Despite its benefits, adherence to physical activity remains low among patients with hypertension in sub-Saharan Africa. This study aimed to determine the facilitators and barriers to physical activity among patients with hypertension attending selected hypertension clinics in Mbarara City, Southwestern Uganda. Methods This was a facility-based cross-sectional study conducted among patients with hypertension attending selected hypertension clinics in Mbarara City, Southwestern Uganda. Data was collected using an interviewer administered questionnaire assessing socio-demographic characteristics, physical activity levels(The International Physical Activity Questionnaire), facilitators(The Motivation for Physical Activity Questionnaire) and barriers(Barriers to Being Active Quiz) to physical activity among patients with hypertension. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the socio-demographic characteristics of age, gender, place of residence, monthly income, occupation, marital status, level of education, duration of hypertension, awareness of physical activity (heard of physical activity),source of information, motivators and barriers to physical activity among patients with hypertension. Fischer’s exact test was used to test for association between physical activity, facilitators and barriers to physical activity among patients with hypertension at a 95% confidence interval. Results 141 participants participated in the study. Median age of the participants was 58 years (IQR = 14).Females accounted for 67.4% (95/141) of the participants while males accounted for 32.6% (46/141). Less than a half of the participants (45.4%) were physically active, 92.2% of the physically active participants reported to be autonomously motivated to engage in physical activity. Lack of skill, social influence and lack of willpower were the most reported barriers to physical activity. Using the Fischer’s exact test, social influence was significantly associated with physical activity (p-value = 0.026 < 0.05). There was no significant association between physical activity and the categories of motivation (p-value > 0.05). Conclusion Approximately half of the physically inactive participants were also sedentary. This is a double disaster especially for adults with hypertension. Therefore, there is an urgent need to integrate and consider the four strategic policy areas for action recommended by World Health Organization (1) which include active societies, active environments, active people and active systems.