Impact of a Dietary Education Program upon Hypertensive Patient Knowledge in Kirkuk City

Background and aim: Hypertension is a systolic blood pressure greater than 140 mmHg and a diastolic pressure greater than 90 mmHg based on the average of two or more accurate blood pressure measurements taken during two or more contacts with a health care provider. The aim of the study to determine the impact of a dietary educational program upon the hypertensive patient knowledge in Kirkuk city. Materials and method: Descriptive study consists of (60) hypertensive clients who attended Eskan Health Center in Kirkuk City during the period of the study from the15th of August 2015 to the 15th of October 2015. The sample is divided into two groups; study group (30) hypertensive clients who received dietary educational program and control group (30) hypertensive clients who received a routine care from the hospital. Three major instruments were used; these instruments included (1) knowledge test which was applied on both groups pretest and eight weeks post-test (2) questions to know what they eat in the last 24 hours in the main meals and in between meals (snacks) which were applied on both groups pretest and eight weeks post-test (3) Body Mass Index measurement was applied on both groups pre-test and eight weeks post-test. Results: Regarding the Comparison between study and control groups regarding sociodemographic characteristic for hypertensive patients the study shows that the highest percentage of the hypertensive clients was similar in both study group and control group (11 (36.7%) was within the age group (40-49) years. Regarding clinical characteristic for hypertensive clientsthat the highest percentage of the hypertensive clients in the study group (28 (93.3%) and the highest percentage of the hypertensive clients in the control group (23 (76.7%) were positive medical family history. Related duration of HT, the highest percentage of the hypertensive clients in the experimental group (9(30.0%) had less than one year while the highest percentage of control group (19(63.3%) had less than one year. Conclusion: The results show that there is highly significant difference concerns the decrease of BMI in post- test for hypertensive clients in the study group than the control group marked improvement in dietary status of the study group compared to the control group. The results of the study also show that there is a significant difference between study group and control group in post-test regarding the adequate grain vegetable fruit. Meat, poultry, and fish (MPF) and Nuts, seeds, and legumes (NSL) intake daily. Recommendation: the study recommends that all hypertensive patient should be involved in the application of nutritional educational programme which was developed in this study. Keywords: Dietary Educational Program, Hypertensive patient.