Dietary salt intake estimation by routine healthcare workers in an urban slum of Chandigarh: A feasibility study

Abstract

Context: Hypertension is an important modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD). From numerous studies, it was observed that excess dietary salt is responsible for 17-30% of high blood pressure and increases the risk of blood pressure-related CVD events in normotensives also. Employing the most appropriate method is important to assess the baseline consumption as well as to evaluate the impact of potential salt reduction initiatives. Aim and Objective: The aim and objective of this study is to collect salt data at population level by health workers, with a standard questionnaire, as they regularly visit household level for other national programs. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in an urban slum of Chandigarh for salt data collection using the WHO STEPS instrument version 3.1. Sample size of 255 was calculated by Epi Info software. However, we have taken 300 participants for our study. Six health staff from Urban Health Training Centre, Indira Colony, Department of Community Medicine, PGIMER, Chandigarh, were involved. They were trained regarding filling the questionnaire. Investigator then re-interviewed 20% of the respondents interviewed by health workers, and a comparison of agreement was done. Results: The range of agreement was observed to be 55-90%, and percentage agreement varies between 63% and 83%, except in 3 questions which could be considered reasonable for initiating public health interventions. Conclusion: From this study, we can conclude that even in resource-poor settings, it is possible to collect salt data by proper training of health workers, and thus, we can initiate evidence-based salt reduction interventions in the community.