Reducing alcohol consumption, decreasing salt intake, increasing potassium intake, increasing physical activity, losing weight, and eating a heart-healthy diet are all non-pharmacological interventions recommended by the current guidelines for the prevention, detection, evaluation, and management of hypertension. Despite this, primary care settings have yet to fully adopt non-pharmacological therapies. Therefore, in this work, researchers systematically examined and summarized the literature on non-pharmacological therapies for the treatment of hypertension in primary care, including their efficacy, cost-effectiveness, barriers, and facilitators. For the purpose of identifying the most recent reviews or, in their absence, primary studies on alcohol reduction, salt intake reduction, potassium supplementation, physical activity, weight loss, heart-healthy diets, and other non-pharmacological interventions for the treatment of hypertension in primary care, a comprehensive literature search was conducted using Embase, Google Scholar, and PubMed.
Reducing alcohol consumption is an effective, feasible, and acceptable non-pharmacological method for treating hypertension in primary care. There is inadequate data for the feasibility and acceptability of interventions to reduce sodium intake, increase physical activity, and decrease body weight in primary care settings, despite their effectiveness. The research on potassium intake and heart-healthy diets is scant and contradictory at best. Non-pharmacological approaches to treating hypertension have not been studied enough to determine their cost-effectiveness. Lack of time, education, resources, self-confidence, clear rules, and financial incentives among healthcare providers are the most typical obstacles to delivering such interventions. Patients’ lack of enthusiasm and access to education are 2 of the most typical impediments. Non-pharmacological therapies in primary care have less evidence supporting their implementation. Furthermore, many interventions served as facilitators with varying effects.
There is mounting evidence that primary care settings need more pragmatic, clinically practical, and logistically straightforward therapies to reduce sodium intake, increase physical activity, and combat obesity. Weight reduction, increased potassium consumption, and heart-healthy eating patterns should be further supported by evidence from future studies. Cost-effectiveness and facilitator analyses of all effective non-pharmacological strategies for the management of hypertension in primary care settings need more investigation.
Source: bmcprimcare.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12875-022-01884-8
