Supporting cardiovascular risk reduction in overweight and obese hypertensive patients through DASH diet and lifestyle education by primary care nurse practitioners.
OBJECTIVE
To describe an intervention among overweight and obese hypertensive patients, encouraging Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet and lifestyle changes, designed and led by a primary care nurse practitioner (NP).


METHODS
A pre- and postintervention quasi-experimental time-series design was implemented over 2 months. Intervention included three group classes and two individual counseling telephone calls. Forty-five hypertensive patients enrolled, with a mean age of 55 years and mean initial BMI of 32. Twenty-six (58%) completed the program. Standard instruments (Rapid Eating Assessment for Patients [REAP] and Partners in Health [PIH] questionnaires) were used to evaluate diet and lifestyle factors before and after the program.


CONCLUSIONS
Participants had statistically significant improvements in diet and lifestyle scores on both REAP and PIH questionnaires, as well as statistically significant weight loss (average 3.6 pounds lost) over the 2-month intervention period.


CONCLUSIONS
This NP-led primary care intervention on diet and lifestyle showed early success in improving the health of overweight and obese hypertensive patients. Investment in NP-led diet and lifestyle counseling should be considered among high-risk patients in the primary care setting.
(Family Nurse Practitioner), (Research Facilitator), (Head of Clinical Research), Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton, Camp Pendleton, California, (Family Nurse Practitioner), (Associate Professor), (Professor), Hahn School of Nursing and Health Science, University of San Diego, San Diego, California.
Julie
J
Jarl
Jerlyn C
JC
Tolentino
Kathy
K
James
Mary Jo
MJ
Clark
Margaret
M
Ryan
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control*; D003376:Counseling / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000150:complications / Q000178:diet therapy* / Q000628:therapy; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009722:Nurse Practitioners; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy*; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000379:methods*; D012307:Risk Factors; D040242:Risk Reduction Behavior
Dietary practices; hypertension; lifestyle; nurse practitioners; obesity