Empowering healthcare professionals in West Africa-A feasibility study and qualitative assessment of a dietary screening tool to identify adults at high risk of hypertension

Nimisoere P Batubo; Nnenna M Nwanze; Chizindu A Alikor; Carolyn I Auma; J Bernadette Moore; Michael A Zulyniak

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0294370

Empowering healthcare professionals in West Africa-A feasibility study and qualitative assessment of a dietary screening tool to identify adults at high risk of hypertension

PLoS One. 2024 Apr 25;19(4):e0294370. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0294370. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Nimisoere P Batubo¹, Nnenna M Nwanze², Chizindu A Alikor³, Carolyn I Auma¹, J Bernadette Moore¹, Michael A Zulyniak^{1

4}

Affiliations

¹ Nutritional Epidemiology Group, School of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom.
² Department of Family Medicine, Rivers State University/Rivers State University of Teaching Hospitals, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria.
³ Department of Internal Medicine, Rivers State University/Rivers State University of Teaching Hospitals, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria.
⁴ Food, Nutrition and Health Program, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Abstract

Dietary risks significantly contribute to hypertension in West Africa. Food frequency questionnaires (FFQs) can provide valuable dietary assessment but require rigorous validation and careful design to facilitate usability. This study assessed the feasibility and interest of a dietary screening tool for identifying adults at high risk of hypertension in Nigeria. Fifty-eight (58) consenting adult patients with hypertension and their caregivers and 35 healthcare professionals from a single-centre Nigerian hospital were recruited to complete a 27-item FFQ at two-time points and three 24-hour recalls for comparison in a mixed method study employing both quantitative questionnaires and qualitative techniques to elicit free form text. Data analyses were conducted using R software version 4.3.1 and NVivo version 14. The trial was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT05973760. The mean age of patients was 42.6 ± 11.9 years, with an average SBP of 140.3 ± 29.8 mmHg and a BMI of 29.5 ± 7.1 Kg/m2. The adherence rate was 87.9%, and the mean completion time was 7:37 minutes. 96.6% of patients found the FFQ easy to complete, comprehensive, and valuable. A minority reported difficulty (3.4%), discomfort (10.3%), and proposed additional foods (6.9%). Healthcare professionals considered the dietary screening tool very important (82.9%) and expressed a willingness to adopt the tool, with some suggestions for clarification. Patients and healthcare professionals found the screening tool favourable for dietary counselling in hypertension care. The tailored dietary screening tool (FFQ) demonstrated promising feasibility for integration into clinical care as assessed by patients and healthcare professionals. Successful implementation may benefit from proactive time management and addressing training needs. This user-centred approach provided key insights to refine FFQ and set the foundation for ongoing validity testing and evaluation in clinical practice.

Copyright: © 2024 Batubo et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Diet
Feasibility Studies*
Female
Health Personnel*
Humans
Hypertension* / diagnosis
Male
Mass Screening / methods
Middle Aged
Nigeria
Surveys and Questionnaires

Associated data

ClinicalTrials.gov/NCT05973760

Grants and funding

NPB recieved funding from Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) of Nigeria for his PhD programme. MAZ is currently funded by Wellcome Trust (217446/Z/19/Z). The funders do not have any role in any aspect of this study. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.