Assessment of Regular Physical Activity in the Care of Hypertensive Patients at the Cardiology Institute of Abidjan and at the National Police Hospital (Ivory Coast)

Aim: Physical activity and other lifestyle changes are an important part of the guidelines for anti-hypertensive therapy. The effect of physical activity on hypertension and heart disease has been well described. No study in our context has been done on this issue. The aim of this study was to evaluate regular physical activity in the management of hypertensive patients at the Cardiology Institute of Abidjan and the National Police Hospital. Material and methods: This was a prospective and descriptive study held in the External Consultations and Rehabilitation Departments of the aforementioned structures. It started on July 20, 2017 and ended on September 7, 2017. The data were analyzed on SPSS version 22. A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. Results: Out of the 190 hypertensive patients recruited and educated, only 70 actually participated in the physical activities that took place in the Rehabilitation Department of Heart Institute. The mean age of the patients was 52 years ± 15 years. The most affected age group was between 40 and 49 years of age (47.40%).There was a male predominance with a sex ratio of 1.11. 63.16% of the patients had a superior. The follow-up time for Hypertension was more than one year in 73.68% of the cases. Our study highlighted the knowledge of the virtues of regular physical activity on the body in 94.74% of cases. Physical activity was prescribed in 94.74% of cases. It was practiced in 63.16% of cases. The mains reasons given for those who did not practice physical activity were “lack of willpower” (90%) and physical activity considered “too tiring” (70%). Physically active patients had a significant decrease of 17.98 mmHg in systolic blood pressure (p < 0.001) and 11.54 mmHg in diastolic blood pressure (p < 0.001). Conclusion: The practice of physical activity in the control of hypertension remains insufficient at the Abidjan Heart Institute. Despite this insufficiency, physical exercise seems to have a positive effect on blood pressure control associated with antihypertensive pharmacological treatment.

Modalities of Prescription of Regular Physical Activity by Cardiologists in the Management of Hypertensive Patients at the Institute of Cardiology of Abidjan

Introduction-Objective: The clinical management of hypertension is well codified. It is based on drug and non-drug therapies, including regular physical activity. The aim was to evaluate the knowledge of physicians on the importance of regular physical activity (RPA) in the care of hypertensive patients at the Institute of Cardiology of Abidjan (ICA). Material and Methods: That was a prospective and descriptive study carried out from July 20, 2019 to September 7, 2019 at the Outpatient Department of the ICA. Our study population consisted of 32 physicians from the Outpatient Department of the ICA. To achieve our goal, we developed a questionnaire for the physicians, which included seventeen items related to the socio-occupational characteristics, to the level of knowledge of hypertension, to the attitudes and the practices in the management of hypertension, and to the factors limiting the accessibility to the practice of a physical activity. Results: The majority of the health professionals in our study were men (62.50%). Among 32 physicians, 56.25% were cardiologists and 75% had a seniority in position of 1 to 4 years. 81.25% of the physicians responded that the hypertensive patients could not only benefit from non-drug means. The suggestion of a complementary physical activity (jogging and brisk walking) to the hypertension treatment was found 137.5 times. Jogging and brisk walking were the main types of physical activity which were suggested to patients. All the physicians responded 3 times per week when they were asked about the frequency of activities proposed for the clinical management of patients with hypertension. Regarding the medical prescription on the type, frequency, and duration of RPA to patients, there was some discrepancy, although the majority of healthcare professionals recommended brisk walking and jogging. Their responses for a 60-minute physical activity were prevalent in 37.5% of cases. Regular physical activity ranked third in the management of the hypertensive patients. Nevertheless, all respondents proposed drug treatment associated with hygienic-dietary measures. 93.75% of health workers initially considered the physical condition of patients before they prepared them for the physical activity. The respondents regularly regarded the physical condition of the patient to evaluate the practice or not of an RPA at a frequency of 24 times in 57.89% of the cases. 93.75% of them confirmed that there was a positive relationship between the practice of the RPA and the improvement of the patient’s clinical state. Conclusion: The knowledge of physical activity and its benefits on the organism remains a problem for its application even though the health professionals know its positive impact on the prevention and the treatment of hypertension.

Activity Calculation in Complex Metallurgical Molten Slag Systems Based on Regular Solution Model

The activity of FetO is very important in ironmaking and steelmaking process. In order to predict the activ- ity of Fe, O and optimize the operation conditions in ironmaking and steelmaking process, by application of regular so lution model in molten slag systems, FeO-Fe2 O3-SIO2 ternary system, FeO-Fe2 O3-SiO2-CaO and FeO-Fe2 O3-SiO2-NiO quaternary systems have been studied by the chemical equilibrium between H2/H20 gas mixture and liquid slag con tained in solid iron. The values of interaction energy between cations concerning steelmaking slags have been deter- mined by application of ferric-ferrous iron equilibrium and iron-ferric iron equilibrium. And then the activity of Fe, O can be calculated. The results show that the relative error is 3.9% in FeO-Fe203-SiO2 system and 18% in FeO- Fe203-SiO2 CaO system. The prediction of activities of FetO in the systems are in good agreement with the measure- ments and the regular solution model is valid for predicting the activity of FetO in complex molten slags systems. The activity of Fe, O in FeO-Fe20a-NiO system have not been tested presently, and the calculated result can not be assessed.