Tehran University of Medical Sciences Iranian Journal of Public Health 2251-6085 45 3 2016 03 15 314 321 Wenxin XU Institute of Physical Education and Sport Science, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou, Fujian, 350007, China Menglong LI Physical Education Institute, Hunan First Normal University, Changsha, Hunan, 410205, China Jiwei YAO Physical Education Institute, Hunan University of Science and Technology, Xiangtan, Hunan, 411201, China 2016 03 15 2016 03 15 Background: Anxiety, depression, and other adverse psychological reactions are often observed in elderly hypertensive patients. Appropriate exercise is a safe form of adjuvant therapy without causing side effects among these patients, with consistent effects on patients’ mental health. In this study, a collective exercise intervention experiment was conducted to evaluate the mental health of elderly hypertensive patients and to verify the effect of the psychological intervention of collective exercise. Method: A total of 115 elderly hypertensive patients aged 60–70 years old were selected as study subjects from May 2012 to January 2015 in Fuzhou City, Fujian Province, China. A total of 57 patients were included in the control group and 58 patients were assigned in the experimental group. Patients in the experimental group participated in a 12 weeks exercise intervention, while patients in the control group didn’t participate in any regular physical exercise. Results: After intervention, the Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90), total score, somatization, obsessive-compulsive symptom, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, hostility, and paranoia scores of the experimental group were significantly lower than those of the control group (P < 0.05). The positive coping style score of the experimental group was significantly higher than that of the control group (P<0.05); by contrast, the negative coping style score of the experimental group was significantly lower than that of the control group (P < 0.05). Conclusion: The mental health level and coping ability of elderly hypertensive patients can be effectively improved with the proposed treatment.     https://ijph.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijph/article/view/6263 https://ijph.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijph/article/download/6263/5324