title: Lifestyle educational program strongly increases compliance to nonpharmacologic intervention in hypertensive patients: a 2-year follow-up study.
abstract: The authors investigated the efficacy of a lifestyle educational program, organized in small group meetings, in improving the outcome of a nonpharmacologic intervention. One hundred and eighty-eight hypertensive patients with stable blood pressure (BP) levels and drug therapy in the previous 6 months were randomly divided into educational care (EC) and usual care (UC) groups. They were followed at 3-month intervals up to 2 years. In addition to the visits in an outpatient clinic, patients in the EC program participated in small group meetings in order to improve their knowledge of the disease and reinforce their motivation for treatment. At baseline, EC and UC groups were similar for age, sex, body mass index (BMI), blood pressure (BP) levels, and pharmacologic treatment. Patients in the EC group had significantly reduced total energy, total and saturated fats, and sodium intake. Physical activity was significantly increased in the EC group as well. At the end of the 1-year follow-up, BMI (P<.001), visceral fat (P<.001), and BP (P<.001) were significantly lower in the EC group compared with the UC group. Pharmacologic treatment during the study was similar for all classes of drugs apart from diuretics whose dose was higher in the UC group at the end of the study.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Federico 2nd University of Naples, Naples, Italy. ferrara@unina.it
authors.forename: Aldo L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Ferrara
authors.forename: Delia
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pacioni
authors.forename: Valentina
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Di Fronzo
authors.forename: Barbara F
authors.initials: BF
authors.lastname: Russo
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Staiano
authors.forename: Enza
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Speranza
authors.forename: Rosaria
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gente
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gargiulo
authors.forename: Fabio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ferrara
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001835:Body Weight; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood; D038441:Diet, Mediterranean; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000178:diet therapy / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000628:therapy*; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010349:Patient Compliance; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D014280:Triglycerides; D002784:Cholesterol