The Impact of a Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension on African American Patients Diagnosed with Hypertension

Abstract

Lifestyle modifications (LM) could reduce blood pressure in patients with hypertension (HTN), making it essential for clinic staff to address with their patients. At the project site, there was a gap in using an evidence-based dietary guideline to address LM to improve HTN. The purpose of this quantitative, quasi-experimental quality improvement project was to determine if the implementation of the National Institute of Health’s (NIH) Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension (DASH) guideline would impact systolic and diastolic blood pressure readings among adult African American patients diagnosed with hypertension. The project was implemented in a primary care outpatient clinic in the metropolitan, Washington D.C., area over four weeks. Nola Pender's middle-range nursing theory, the health promotion model, and Orem's self-care deficit theory provided the scientific underpinnings for this project. Data on blood pressure levels were collected from the electronic health record among a total sample size of 20 at baseline and four weeks post-implementation. Paired t-tests were used to analyze the systolic and diastolic pressure data. The results indicated a clinical and statistically significant decreases in the systolic, t (19) = 2.59, p = .018 as well as in the diastolic blood pressures t (19) = 4.00, p= .001. Therefore, the implementation of the NIH’s DASH diet may aid in reducing blood pressures in this population and setting. Recommendations are to sustain the project and disseminate the finding.