Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2011 Sep-Oct;43(5):366-73.
doi: 10.1016/j.jneb.2011.01.014.

Sex, age, and race/ethnicity do not modify the effectiveness of a diet intervention among family members of hospitalized cardiovascular disease patients

Heidi Mochari-Greenberger  1 , Mary Beth Terry, Lori Mosca
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Sex, age, and race/ethnicity do not modify the effectiveness of a diet intervention among family members of hospitalized cardiovascular disease patients

Heidi Mochari-Greenberger et al. J Nutr Educ Behav. 2011 Sep-Oct.

Abstract

Objective: To determine whether effectiveness of a diet intervention for family members of cardiovascular disease patients varies by participant sex, race/ethnicity, or age because these characteristics have been associated with unique barriers to diet change.

Design: Randomized controlled trial.

Setting and participants: University medical center. Healthy adult family members of patients hospitalized with cardiovascular disease (n = 501; 66% women; 36% racial/ethnic minorities; mean age 48 years).

Intervention: A special screening and educational intervention (SI) vs control intervention (CI) to reduce dietary saturated fat and cholesterol intake throughout 1 year.

Main outcome measures: Absolute change in MEDFICTS (meats, eggs, dairy, fried foods, fat in baked goods, convenience foods, fats added at the table and snacks) diet score, saturated fat, and dietary cholesterol in the SI vs CI from baseline to 1 year.

Analysis: t tests stratified by sex, race/ethnicity, and age group; linear regression. Significance set at P < .05.

Results: The SI was effective to improve MEDFICTS score independent of sex, race/ethnicity, and age group (β = -6.7; P < .001). There was no interaction between the SI and sex (β = .9; P = .84), race/ethnicity (β = -1.1; P = .81), or age group (β = -.6; P = .89) on change in MEDFICTS score or change in saturated fat or dietary cholesterol intake from baseline to 1 year.

Conclusions and implications: Results support the potential for a hospital-based screening and education program to improve diet in diverse populations of cardiovascular disease patient family members.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Achievements in public health, 1990–1999: decline in deaths from heart disease and stroke – United States, 1990–1999. MMWR Weekly. 1999 August 6;48:649–656. - PubMed
    1. Wright JD, Wang CY, Kennedy-Stephenson J, Ervin RB. Advance data from vital and health statistics; no 334. Hyattsville, Maryland: National Centre for Health Statistics; 2003. Dietary intake of ten key nutrients for public health, United States: 1999–2000. - PubMed
    1. Ernst ND, Sempos CT, Briefel RR, Clark MB. Consistency between US dietary fat intake and serum cholesterol concentrations: the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys. Am J Clin Nutr. 1997;66:965S–972S. - PubMed
    1. Ford ES, Ajani UA, Croft JB, Critchley JA, Labarthe DR, et al. Explaining the decrease in U.S. deaths from coronary disease, 1980–2000. N Engl J Med. 2007;356:2388–2398. - PubMed
    1. Trends in intake of energy and macronutrients—United States, 1971–2000. MMWR Weekly. 2004;53:80–82. - PubMed

Publication types