Translating Dietary Trials Into the Community
Condition: Hypertension
MeSH terms: Hypertension
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      A diet that is rich in fruits, vegetables, and low fat dairy foods is known to lower blood
      pressure in adults. This research project seeks to promote the adoption of the Dietary
      Approaches to Stop Hypertension(DASH)eating pattern by African American adults with
      hypertension or prehypertension living in a lower income minority community. The randomized
      trial phase of this project will test a group-based intervention using materials adopted from
      prior studies and tailored to the community of interest.
    

Detailed description: 
      Hypertension (HTN) is a prevalent risk factor for cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, and renal
      disease, and disproportionately affects African Americans (AA). Although HTN awareness and
      treatment rates among AA are similar to, or exceed non-Hispanic whites, control of HTN among
      AAs remains inadequate. Randomized clinical trials have demonstrated the effectiveness of
      lifestyle measures in lowering BP, including the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension
      (DASH) diet, which lowers systolic BP 6-14 mmHg. DASH calls for increased consumption of
      fruits, vegetables, and low fat dairy, and decreased saturated fat and sodium intake. There
      is limited evidence that DASH has been widely adopted by the public and AA from lower income
      communities may be less able to adopt DASH as currently disseminated due to barriers related
      to income, education, attitudes about foods, health beliefs, and neighborhood availability of
      healthier foods. We propose to utilize quantitative and qualitative research techniques
      (including focus groups and surveys) to assess environmental, intra-personal, interpersonal
      and cultural factors that could affect the translation of the DASH diet in a low-income AA
      community, then utilize the knowledge gathered to adapt existing intervention strategies and
      tools. These will provide the materials for a randomized three month pilot lifestyle
      intervention implementing the DASH diet. The 40 participants will be aged 21+ and have
      pre-HTN or HTN with blood pressure between 120-150/80-95 mmHg on 0,1 or 2 antihypertensive
      agents, and will be AA residents of two zip codes in Winston-Salem (a lower-income area whose
      population is significantly minority).
    

Intervention name(s): DASH diet; Delayed Intervention
Intervention type(s): Behavioral; Behavioral
Intervention description(s): The intervention will consist of a 12-week pilot trial in which participants will be given intervention materials tailored to their community, focusing on DASH. Intervention content will be designed to provide participants with the knowledge and skills to adopt the DASH eating pattern, specifically to increase fruit, vegetable, and low-fat dairy intake, and to decrease saturated fats and sodium. They will follow this diet for 12 weeks.; The participants will receive a guide written by NHLBI entitled, "Your Guide to Lowering Blood Pressure."
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Treatment
Keywords: Hypertension