Effect of a Lifestyle-Based Intervention on Health-Related Quality of Life in Older Adults with Hypertension

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of a six-month lifestyle-based intervention on health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in older adults with hypertension. A secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial was conducted to test the differences between the intervention and control groups on HRQOL (N=196). The results indicated that there were no statistically significant differences between the intervention and control groups on change in HRQOL, but the final regression models were statistically significant. SF-36 mental component summary (MCS) score at baseline, stress at baseline, and change in stress were significant predictors for predicting change in the SF-36 MCS. SF-36 physical component summary (PCS) at baseline and change in stress were significant predictors for predicting change in the SF-36 PCS. The findings suggest that the development of an effective intervention in improving HRQOL should be considered within individual, interpersonal, societal, and cultural factors for future research and clinical practice.

Associations of Lifestyle Intervention Effect with Blood Pressure and Physical Activity among Community-Dwelling Older Americans with Hypertension in Southern California

“…Lack of the readiness-to-change screening can impact the effects of the intervention. Lastly, the participants in this study were nonclinical urban community dwellers [12,17]. This may have limited the generalizability of the findings.…”

“…The primary goal of the statistical analysis in the current study was to test the associations of lifestyle intervention effect with changes in blood pressure and physical activity, from pre-test (baseline) to post-test (6 months), accounting for social support and perceived stress as control variables. Descriptive statistics and hierarchical multiple regression (HMR) were used to analyze the sample characteristics and make predictions on criterion variables [12,26,27]. The change in blood pressure was modeled using independent variables including socio-demographic variables (age, sex, ethnicity, education, monthly income), blood pressure at baseline, lifestyle intervention effect (intervention vs. control), social support (LSNS score) at baseline, change in LSNS score, perceived stress (PSS score) at baseline, and change in PSS score through HMR analysis.…”

“…Ninety-one participants (46%) had received more than a high school education; one hundred and four participants (54%) had a monthly income lower than $1000. At baseline, the two study groups had no significant differences in socio-demographic characteristics (all p ≥ 0.05) ( [12], p. 3). Table 1 indicates the distribution of means for the continuous variables for the two groups.…”

“…The Lubben Social Network Scale (LSNS) was used to measure social support. Scores range from 0 to 50, where higher scores suggest higher levels of social support [12,[18][19][20][21]. The adapted Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), an 18-item scale, was used to measure perceived stress [12].…”

“…Scores range from 0 to 50, where higher scores suggest higher levels of social support [12,[18][19][20][21]. The adapted Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), an 18-item scale, was used to measure perceived stress [12]. Scores of the adapted PSS range from 18 to 90, where higher scores suggest higher levels of perceived stress [22,23].…”