PENGARUH KONSUMSI BUAH SEMANGKA (CITRULLUS LANATUS) TERHADAP PENURUNAN TEKANAN DARAH PADA LANSIA PENDERITA HIPERTENSI DI WILAYAH KERJA PUSKESMAS SIANTAN SELATAN KABUPATEN KEPULAUAN ANAMBAS

Abstract

Hypertension if left untreated and unmanaged, will lead to long-term damage to the arteries within the body, including organs that receive blood supply from these arteries. The presence of hypertension can result in complications in other organs of the body.Hypertension treatment can be pharmacological, involving the consumption of antihypertensive medications, and non-pharmacological, such as watermelon juice therapy. The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of watermelon (citrullus lanatus) consumption on reducing blood pressure in elderly individuals with hypertension in the South Siantan Community Health Center's working area. This research is a quasi-experimental study with a pre-test and post-test design. The population consists of 165 elderly individuals, with a sample of 15 elderly participants. Statistical analysis was performed using paired samples t-test. The results show that for systolic blood pressure, the calculated t-value is 11.526 > t-table 2.160, and the p-value is 0.000 < α 0.05. Similarly, for diastolic blood pressure, the calculated t-value is 3.597 > t-table 2.160, and the p-value is 0.003 < α 0.05. These results lead to the conclusion that watermelon has an effect on reducing both systolic and diastolic blood pressure in elderly individuals with hypertension in the South Siantan Community Health Center's working area in the year 2023. For further research, this study suggests exploring factors contributing to hypertension as potential areas of investigation.