Optimizing Blood Pressure in African-American Women with Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH)

African-American women have an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease as a result of uncontrolled hypertension. Despite treatment guidelines that recommend lifestyle changes to manage hypertension, dietary lifestyle changes remain low. Lifestyle modification with the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) was integrated into the current treatment plan to reduce blood pressure to target (<120/80 mm Hg). The mean pre-Dash SBP (147.44 mm Hg)/(86.33 DBP) compared to mean post-Dash SBP (142.43 mm Hg)/(81.57 mmHg DBP) yielded a 5-mm Hg reduction in SBP and 4-mm Hg decrease in DBP. The Wilcoxon Signed Rank, a nonparametric test was used to determine statistical significance. A p value of <0.05 is considered statistically significant. As a result, the DASH Diet did not elicit a statistically significant change in BP (z = -1.355, p = 0.176). The DASH Diet lifestyle modification is an effective adjunct in the management of hypertension and must continue throughout all phases of treatment.