Dietary approaches to stop hypertension patterns in older Latinos with or at risk for hypertension.
BACKGROUND
Older Latinos represent a growing segment of our population, yet little is known about whether older Latinos are following the recommended Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) eating plan, which promotes certain food groups to reduce blood pressure (BP) over and above established strategies. Among Latinos, greater acculturation to the American society has been associated with suboptimal dietary choices and risk for chronic diseases. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to assess differences in DASH accordance/adherence by BP status taking into account level of acculturation.


METHODS
This was a descriptive, cross-sectional study involving older Latinos wherein DASH accordance and adherence were calculated on the basis of nutrient analyses of food frequency questionnaires. A DASH score of 4.5 or higher indicated accordance, and a DASH Adherence Index greater than 0 indicated adherence. Blood pressure was measured in triplicate using Omron HEM-907XL and was categorized according to BP level and/or antihypertensive medication. The Acculturation Rating Scale for Mexican Americans-II was used to rate level of acculturation.


RESULTS
Participants were 169 Latinos, primarily women (73%) and older (66 ± 9.0 years); the majority were hypertensive (66%), preferred speaking in Spanish (85%), and were more Latino oriented (63%) with respect to acculturation status. Overall, participants were moderately DASH accordant (4.2 ± 1.6) and DASH adherent (-0.8 ± 0.8). Acculturation scores (odds ratio, 1.4-1.7, P < 0.02) were predictive of hypertensive status (defined as BP ≥ 140/90 mm Hg) regardless of which dietary score was modeled.


CONCLUSIONS
Based on these findings, greater attention should be paid to identification of traditional Latino foods and food preparation that are consistent and acceptable to this older community in effort to foster greater DASH accordance and improve BP status.
Department of Adult Health and Gerontological Nursing, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois 60612, USA. beth_a_staffileno@rush.edu
Beth A
BA
Staffileno
Christy C
CC
Tangney
JoEllen
J
Wilbur
David X
DX
Marquez
Louis
L
Fogg
Alexis
A
Manning
Eduardo E
EE
Bustamante
Martha C
MC
Morris
D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004032:Diet; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010349:Patient Compliance / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*