Effect of Low-salt Food Preparation Demonstration Compared to Routine Health Education on Salt Intake and Blood Pressure among Patients with Hypertension Seeking Care from a Selected Urban Primary Health Centre, Puducherry.

Background: Daily salt consumption is one of the causal factors for hypertension. As per the World Health Organization estimates, 1.28 billion people aged 30-79 years have hypertension worldwide.

Aim: The aim of this study was to assess the effect of a low-salt food preparation demonstration (FPD) in reducing salt intake and blood pressure amongst patients with hypertension.

Subjects and methods: It was a pilot parallel-arm non-randomised controlled trial conducted in Puducherry, South India. Eligible participants were patients with hypertension, aged 30-59 years, seeking care at JIPMER Urban Health Centre and involved in home cooking. The data were collected through house-to-house visits. The intervention group (IG) received a low-salt FPD and routine health education (RHE), whereas RHE was given to the control group (CG). Differences-in-difference analysis was performed to assess the mean changes in systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), daily salt intake and household salt consumption (HSC) across the groups.

Results: Out of 130 patients enrolled, 101 (77.6%) were included in the final analysis. Post-intervention, results were statistically significant in both IG and CG for SBP, DBP and HSC. However, the IG showed greater mean reduction in SBP of 2.1 mmHg (95% confidence interval [CI]: -3.0, -0.92), DBP of 2.2 mmHg (95% CI: -3.0, -1.4) and HSC of 112.7 g/day (95% CI: -169.4, -56.1).

Conclusion: Participants who received FPD reported greater reductions in blood pressure compared to those who received only RHE. Further studies with longer follow-up periods may confirm these findings and provide a better understanding of the impact of such interventions.