Abstract
<jats:p>Purpose To investigate the impact of physical rehabilitation on indicators of quality of life, morphological and functional parameters of middle-aged men experiencing hypertension in conjunction with diabetes. Materials and Methods A comprehensive examination was conducted on 50 men, with an average age of 51.4 ± 4.7 years, who had both hypertension and diabetes. They were randomly allocated into two groups: the experimental group (EG, n = 30) participated in an author's rehabilitation program, while the control group (CG, n = 20) received standard treatment. All participants provided informed consent. Health status was assessed based on the PHQ-9 depression scale; morpho-functional indicators included body mass index, heart rate, and blood pressure. Cardiovascular reserves were evaluated using the Robinson’s index, the circulatory efficiency coefficient, and the adaptive potential. Glucose and cholesterol levels were measured, and the likelihood of premature death resulting from cardiovascular events was evaluated utilizing the SCORE index. Results Implementation of the author's rehabilitation program, including diaphragmatic breathing exercises, health walking, and swimming, resulted in a notable decrease in glucose levels (by 46.1%, p < 0.05) when compared to the control group. Patients of the experimental group showed a trend towards reducing cholesterol (by 30.1%, p > 0.05), however, this observation did not achieve statistical significance. In these patients, systolic blood pressure decreased (by 10.5%, p < 0.05), cardiovascular system reserves improved (the Robinson’s index decreased by 15%, the circulatory efficiency coefficient decreased by 19.8%, p < 0.05), and there was an elevation in the adaptive potential (by 11.4%, p < 0.05). Participants of the experimental group also experienced a reduction in depression levels measured by the PHQ-9 scale (by 56.2%, p < 0.05) and mitigated the risk of premature death related to cardiovascular diseases, as indicated by the SCORE index (by 57.3%, p < 0.05). Conclusions The obtained results provide new insights into the use of diaphragmatic breathing combined with health walking and swimming in the rehabilitation program for individuals with hypertension and diabetes. It has been demonstrated that this rehabilitation program positively influenced glucose and cholesterol levels, improved the physical and functional status of patients, reduced depression levels, and lowered the risk of premature death from cardiovascular diseases. It can be recommended for implementation in clinical practice.</jats:p>