Dark chocolate or tomato extract for prehypertension: a randomised controlled trial

Table 4 Acceptability of treatment (chocolate or capsules)

	Dark chocolate groups:	Capsule groups:	Mean (SD)	P-value^a
	70% cocoa, 50 g daily	tomato extract (15 mg lycopene) or placebo, 1 capsule daily
Ease of taking supplements ^b	50% found it hard to eat 50 g dark chocolate daily for 8 weeks	100% found it easy to take one capsule daily for 8 weeks	Chocolate groups: 2.4 (1.3)
			Capsule groups: 1.3 (0.5)	p < 0.0001
Acceptability ^c	20% found it unacceptable	100% acceptable	Chocolate groups: 1.9 (1.0)
			Capsule groups: 1.3 (0.5)	p < 0.0001
Reason for unacceptability	Unpalatable, too rich, encountered side-effects, such as constipation and headache	N/A
Withdrawals	unpalatable (n = 2)	gastrointestinal upset (n = 1); illness unrelated to study (n = 1)
Willingness to continue with treatment after trial ^d	73% would continue with daily dark chocolate;	100% would continue with capsules;
	Average dark chocolate consumption increased after the trial compared to baseline: mean increase = 44 ± 194 g/week	80% intended adding more tomatoes to diet;
		35% would rather eat tomatoes than take a capsule
Willingness to pay for supplements ^d	73% would be willing to spend ~A$1.25 for 50 g dark chocolate per day	66% would be willing to spend ~A$1 per capsule per day

^aP-values are calculated by student t-test,
^b Ease was assessed using a 5-point Likert scale with 1 = very easy, 2 = easy, 3 = sometimes easy, sometimes hard, 4 = hard, 5 = very hard;
^c Acceptability was assessed using a 4 = point Likert scale with 1 = very acceptable, 2 = acceptable, 3 = unacceptable, 4 = very unacceptable
^dWillingness for long-term treatment was estimated by bivariate questions (yes/no)

ISSN: 2662-7671