Supporting cardiovascular risk reduction in overweight and obese hypertensive patients through DASH diet and lifestyle education by primary care nurse practitioners

摘要

Purpose: 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).Data sources: 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.