Efektivitas Latihan Low Impact dan High Impact terhadap Penurunan Kadar Kolesterol Total pada Penderita Hipertensi

Abstract

Hypertension is a major cardiovascular risk factor often associated with
hypercholesterolemia. Aerobic exercise is recommended as a non-pharmacological intervention to
improve lipid profiles. Objective: To determine and compare the effectiveness of low-impact and high-
impact exercise in reducing total cholesterol levels among patients with hypertension. Methods: A
quasi-experimental study with a pretest–posttest two-group design was conducted on 28 hypertensive
patients aged 50–70 years at Mlati 2 Community Health Center. Participants were assigned to a low-
impact group (n = 14; brisk walking) and a high-impact group (n = 14; High-Intensity Interval
Training [HIIT] running in place) for four weeks, three sessions per week. Data were analyzed using
the Paired Sample t-test and Mann–Whitney test (α = 0.05). Results: The low-impact group showed a
non-significant reduction in total cholesterol levels from 213.93 ± 8.66 mg/dL to 210.93 ± 13.88
mg/dL (p = 0.503). In contrast, the high-impact group demonstrated a significant reduction from
224.93 ± 20.13 mg/dL to 201.86 ± 22.66 mg/dL (p = 0.011). However, no significant difference in
effectiveness was found between the two exercise modalities (p = 0.077). Conclusion: High-impact
exercise effectively reduced total cholesterol levels, while low-impact exercise showed only a slight
reduction. Nevertheless, both interventions demonstrated comparable effectiveness statistically.