Examining Plant-Based Dietary Adoption Among Hypertensive Older Adults: Characterizing Psychosocial Factors

OBJECTIVE: Examine and identify psychosocial factors and demographic characteristics associated with a healthy plant-based diet (PBD) consumption among hypertensive older adults (≥ 60 years). DESIGN: Cross-sectional baseline data from a community-based hypertension project. SETTING: Senior centers/living across Maryland. PARTICIPANTS: Hypertensive, community-dwelling older adults (n = 212). VARIABLES MEASURED: Plant-based diet consumption based on the healthful PBD index (hPDI). Perceived barriers and benefits related to PBDs, readiness to consume a PBD, and sociodemographic information were also collected. ANALYSIS: Ordinal logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: Older individuals more likely to consume a healthy PBD were men (odds ratio [OR] = 2.60 [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.07-6.32]), lived with family members (OR = 0.17 [95% CI, 0.05-0.60], P = 0.006), had higher levels of readiness, at the action/maintenance stages (OR = 2.76 [95% CI, 1.24-6.02], P = 0.01), had fewer perceived barriers (OR = 0.34 [95% CI, 0.19-0.61], P < 0.001), maintained better hypertensive, self-care practices (medication adherence, low-salt diet, physical activity, and smoking) (OR = 1.25 [95% CI, 1.14-1.37], P < 0.001), and had fewer chronic diseases overall (OR = 0.85 [95% CI, 0.76-0.95], P = 0.004). CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Understanding older adults' characteristics such as perceptions, readiness, and self-care practices associated with PBD consumptions is an important initial step to more targeted interventions to shift dietary patterns that impact health outcomes.