Abstract
LEARNING OUTCOME: To assess the quality of life outcomes from two methods for achieving the NCEP/AHA Step 1/2 dietary guidelines.Health professionals frequently advise patients with cardiovascular diseases to modify their diets but often find that patients do not follow their advice because of difficulties encountered altering food-intake patterns. Finding ways of reducing the difficulties associated with dietary change is of critical importance to successful nutritional therapy. The objective of this study was to provide a complete-prepared food plan as a means of reducing diet-related difficulties. Success in meeting this objective was measured by improvements in quality of life (QOL). The prepared food plan was compared to an intensive dietitian-guided, self-selected diet. Both meal plans provided as %Kcal <20% fat, 15–20% protein and 55–60% carbohydrate. Subjects (n=560) from 10 medical centers met entry criteria for marginally controlled hypertension, dyslipidemia or NIDDM and were randomly assigned to the two diet groups. The study consisted of a 4-week-phase of usual diet followed by a 10 week diet intervention phase. Quality of life was measured at weeks -2, 0, 4 and 10. Repeated measures ANOVA showed that both groups had significant improvement over weeks for mental health (p < .001), general health perceptions (p < .001), daily and work activities (p < .001), social function (p < .001), nutritional health perceptions (p < .001), nutritional hassles (p < .001), affect (p < .001) and diet satisfaction (p < .001). Improvements were greater for individuals in the prepared meal plan for daily and work activities (p < .05) and nutritional health perceptions (p < .01). We conclude that improving nutrition patterns enhances QOL in patients with generalized cardiovascular metabolic disease. Reducing the demands on the patient by providing a complete prepared meal plan resulted in the greatest improvement in QOL.
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