Sk. Kumanyika et al., Outcomes of a cardiovascular nutrition counseling program in African-Americans with elevated blood pressure or cholesterol level, J AM DIET A, 99(11), 1999, pp. 1380
Objective To evaluate a cardiovascular nutrition education package designed
for African-American adults with a nide range of Literacy skills.
Design Comparison of a self-help group and a full-instruction group; each g
roup received nutrition counseling and clinical monitoring every 4 months.
Subjects Three hundred thirty African-American adults, aged 40 to 70 years,
with elevated cholesterol level or high blood pressure were randomly assig
ned to the self-help or full-instruction group; 255 completed the 12-month
follow-up.
Interventions Counseling to reduce intake of dietary fat, cholesterol, and
sodium was based on Cardiovascular Dietary Education System (CARDES) materi
als, which included food-picture cards, a nutrition guide (self-help and fu
ll-instruction group), a video and audiotape series, and 4 classes (full-in
struction group only).
Main outcome measures Changes in Lipid levels and blood pressure after 12 m
onths.
Statistical analyses performed Primary analyses consisted of repeated-measu
res analysis of variance to examine effects of time and randomization group
on outcomes.
Results Total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol level dec
reased by 7% to 8% in the self-help and full-instruction groups of men and
women (P<.01). The ratio of total cholesterol to high-density Lipoprotein c
holesterol (HDL-C) decreased in both groups of women and in the men in the
full-instruction group (P<.01). In full-instruction and self-help participa
nts with elevated blood pressure at baseline, systolic blood pressure decre
ased by 7 to 11 mm Hg and diastolic blood pressure decreased by 4 to 7 mm H
g (P<.01). Outcomes did not differ by literacy scores but were positively r
elated to the reported initial frequency of using CARDES materials.
Applications/conclusions These results suggest that periodic nutrition coun
seling based on CARDES materials used for home study can enhance management
of lipid levels and blood pressure in African-American outpatients.