The effect of the behavior modification program Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) on reducing the risk of hypertension among elderly patients in the rural community of Phayao, Thailand.

Aim: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) program with self-efficacy on reducing the risk of hypertension among elderly patients in the rural community of Phayao Province in Northern Thailand.

Patients and methods: A quasi-experimental study was employed among elderly patients in the rural community of Phayao. Multistage random sampling was used to select a study area with similar characteristics. Ninety elderly participants were placed in the intervention group and 85 elderly participants from the same village were placed in the control group. The intervention group used the behavior modification guidelines of the DASH program with self-efficacy for 3 months, including 45-minute weekly group education meetings, 25-minute group activity training sessions, and a 15-minute individual checklist. A control group received no intervention. Data were collected by using self-administered questionnaires. The analyses included descriptive statistics, the Mann-Whitney U -test, and sample t -testing. Three different time periods were examined using repeated measures ANOVA.

Results: More than half of the participants (65.7%) were aged 60-69 years. The results from comparison of the intervention and control groups showed that the perceived severity of hypertension and self-efficacy had increased and preventive behaviors toward hypertension had improved in both groups. There were statistically significant differences after the intervention and at 3-month follow-up ( P <0.001). After the intervention, the systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure of the elderly people in the intervention group had decreased ( P <0.001).

Conclusion: The behavior modification guidelines of the DASH program with self-efficacy, were effective in improving the mean score of perceived severity, self-efficacy, and preventive behaviors among elderly participants with a high risk of hypertension. Furthermore, the program was effective in lowering blood pressure and it may be useful in controlling stage 1 hypertension in elderly people.