Compliance with the dietary approaches to stop hypertension (DASH) diet: a systematic review

Kwan, M.M., Wong, M.C., Wang, H.H. , Liu, K.Q., Lee, C.L., Yan, B.P., Yu, C. and Griffiths, S.M. (2013) Compliance with the dietary approaches to stop hypertension (DASH) diet: a systematic review. PLoS ONE, 8(10), e78412. (doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0078412) (PMID:24205227) (PMCID:PMC3813594)

Abstract

Background The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet has been recognized as effective to lower blood pressure in feeding trials, but compliance with the diet must be persistent to maximize health benefits in clinical practice. This paper reports a systematic review of the latest evidence on the method to assess DASH compliance and the corresponding patients' compliance in interventional settings.<p></p> Methods The databases including MEDLINE, EBM Reviews, EMBASE, and CINAHL Plus were searched for original research studies published in the period of January 1992- December 2012 that evaluated compliance with DASH diet. Studies written in English language, with DASH intervention, with complete documentation of the degree of DASH compliance and the assessment method used were included in this review. The search terms included: dietary approaches to stop hypertension, DASH, compliance, adherence, consistency, and concordance.<p></p> Results Nine studies were included. Different types of interventions were identified, ranging from feeding trial to dietary counseling. These studies differed in the assessment methods used to evaluate DASH compliance, which included objective approaches like measurement of urinary excretion, and subjective approaches like dietary intake assessment for DASH target comparison and construction of DASH scoring systems. Compliance levels were lower in educational interventions than that of the original DASH feeding trial.<p></p> Conclusions To conclude, although no consensus existed regarding the best approach to assess DASH compliance, its suboptimal compliance warrants attention. This study implied a need to investigate effective approaches to sustain the DASH dietary pattern beyond counselling alone.<p></p>

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Wang, Professor Haoxiang
• Authors: Kwan, M.M., Wong, M.C., Wang, H.H., Liu, K.Q., Lee, C.L., Yan, B.P., Yu, C., and Griffiths, S.M.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Health & Wellbeing > General Practice and Primary Care
• Journal Name: PLoS ONE
• Publisher: Public Library of Science
• ISSN: 1932-6203
• ISSN (Online): 1932-6203
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2013 The Authors
• First Published: First published in PLoS ONE 8(10):e78412
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License