Reduction of Excessive Dietary Sodium Consumption: Effectiveness of a Prevention Intervention among Health Workers in a Large Italian Hospital

Abstract

Excessive salt consumption is one of the leading causes of high blood pressure. Worldwide salt intake largely exceeds the WHO recommended amount. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of high salt consumers and the effectiveness of a short-term workplace educational intervention among health workers. An online survey, assessing daily salt consumption through the MINISAL-SIIA questionnaire, was sent to the 4911 health workers employed by the University Hospital of Verona, Italy. Health workers who had a high (total score ≥ 10) or moderate (total score = 8/9) salt consumption associated with obesity or arterial hypertension were invited to undergo a medical examination and a short individual counselling session. A total of 1665 health workers (34.0%) completed the online questionnaire; 40.9% and 12.6% had moderate and high salt intake, respectively. High salt intake was more prevalent in men, current and past smokers, and obese and overweight subjects. In 95 participants completing the clinical phase, median daily salt consumption decreased from 10 (p25–p75 8–11) to 7 g (6–8) (p < 0.001), systolic blood pressure from 130 (120–140) to 120 (120–130) mmHg and weight from 78 (62–87) to 75 (62–86) kg. More than half of health workers had an excessive salt intake. However, a brief educational intervention in the healthcare working setting can substantially reduce unhealthy dietary habits, fostering weight loss and blood pressure control. Studies with a longer follow-up are needed to evaluate the persistence over time of these effects.

Risk of obstructive sleep apnea among health workers: results of a screening in a large Italian University Hospital

“…The proportion of response to the online questionnaire was similar in the present study and in a previous one, simultaneously carried out in the same University Hospital (31 vs 34%), and higher than others targeting HW populations (Spiteri et al 2023 ). In agreement with the previous study, also the percentage of response among women and nurses was significantly higher than among men and other professional groups.…”

Enhancing Health Literacy Through “I Watch Sodium” Application among Prehypertension University Staff: A Quasi-experimental Study

“…In addition, previous studies supported our findings that health and nutritional education, combined with other strategies, such as tools for estimating salt consumption, self-monitoring, and a brief education, were successful methods to reduce salt/sodium intake among adults. 31,32 In addition, a similar intervention comprised three measures, which included observing the average sodium consumption and developing an environment to enable and promote behavioral change among people at high risk for hypertension. 33 Interestingly, our study is the first that used the "I Watch Sodium" application to increase health literacy about sodium information and reduce sodium intake among university staff with prehypertension in the lower northern part of Thailand, which used the responsive web design that can access in any device, such as a computer, laptop, or mobile phone and anytime online.…”