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Nel, J. (2008). Development and validation of a short questionnaire to assess sodium intake. Public Health Nutrition, 11 (1), 83-94. Development and validation of a short questionnaire to assess sodium intake AbstractObjectives: To develop and validate a short, food frequency questionnaire to assess habitual dietary salt intake in South Africans and to allow classification of individuals according to intakes above or below the maximum recommended intake of 6 g salt/day. Design: Cross-sectional validation study in 324 conveniently sampled men and women. Methods: Repeated 24-hr urinary Na values and 24-hr dietary recalls were obtained on three occasions. Food items consumed by > 5% sample and which contributed e 50 mg Na/serving were included in the questionnaire in 42 categories. A scoring system was devised, based on Na content of one index food per category and frequency of consumption. Results: Positive correlations were found between Na content of 35 of the 42 food categories in the questionnaire and total Na intake, calculated from 24-hr recall data. Total Na content of the questionnaire was associated with Na estimations from 24-hr recall data (r = 0.750; P Keywords sodium, questionnaire, intake, validation, short, assess, development Disciplines Medicine and Health Sciences | Social and Behavioral Sciences Publication DetailsCharlton, K. E., Steyn, K., Levitt, N., Jonathan, D., Zulu, J. & Nel, J. (2008). Development and validation of a short questionnaire to assess sodium intake. Public Health Nutrition, 11 (1), 83-94. AuthorsKaren E. Charlton, Krisela Steyn, Naomi Levitt, Deborah Jonathan, Jabuliswe Zulu, and Johanna Nel Abstract Objectives: To develop and validate a short food-frequency questionnaire to assess habitual dietary salt intake in South Africans and to allow classification of individuals according to intakes above or below the maximum recommended intake of 6 g salt day 21 . Design: Cross-sectional validation study in 324 conveniently sampled men and women. Methods: Repeated 24-hour urinary Na values and 24-hour dietary recalls were obtained on three occasions. Food items consumed by .5% of the sample and which contributed $50 mg Na serving 21 were included in the questionnaire in 42 categories. A scoring system was devised, based on Na content of one index food per category and frequency of consumption. Results: Positive correlations were found between Na content of 35 of the 42 food categories in the questionnaire and total Na intake, calculated from 24-hour recall data. Total Na content of the questionnaire was associated with Na estimations from 24-hour recall data (r 5 0.750; P , 0.0001; n 5 328) and urinary Na (r 5 0.152; P 5 0.0105; n 5 284). Urinary Na was higher for subjects in tertile 3 than tertile 1 of questionnaire Na content (P , 0.05). Questionnaire Na content of ,2400 and $2400 mg day 21 equated to a reference cut-off score of 48 and corresponded to mean (standard deviation) urinary Na values of 145 (68) and 176 (99) mmol day 21 , respectively (P , 0.05). Sensitivity and spe...

Objective: To assess the impact of a food-based intervention on blood pressure (BP) in free-living South African men and women aged 50-75 years, with drugtreated mild-to-moderate hypertension. Methods: A double-blind controlled trial was undertaken in eighty drug-treated mild-to-moderate hypertensive subjects randomised to an intervention (n 40) or control (n 40) arm. The intervention was 8-week provision of six food items with a modified cation content (salt replacement (SOLO TM ), bread, margarine, stock cubes, soup mix and a flavour enhancer) and 500 ml of maas (fermented milk)/d. The control diet provided the same quantities of the targeted foods but of standard commercial composition and 500 ml/d of artificially sweetened cooldrink. Findings: The intervention effect estimated as the contrast of the within-diet group changes in BP from baseline to post-intervention was a significant reduction of 6?2 mmHg (95 % CI 0?9, 11?4) for systolic BP. The largest intervention effect in 24 h BP was for wake systolic BP with a reduction of 5?1 mmHg (95 % CI 0?4, 9?9). For wake diastolic BP the reduction was 2?7 mmHg (95 % CI 20?2, 5?6). Conclusions: Modification of the cation content of a limited number of commonly consumed foods lowers BP by a clinically significant magnitude in treated South African hypertensive patients of low socio-economic status. The magnitude of BP reduction provides motivation for a public health strategy that could be adopted through lobbying of the food industry by consumer and health agencies.

The increasing burden of comorbid HIV infection and hypertension necessitates a focus on healthcare services providing care for chronic multi-morbidities. The aim of this study was to evaluate the perceptions and experiences of 1) people living with HIV infection and comorbid hypertension, and 2) their healthcare providers, related to their diagnoses and interactions with chronic healthcare services in South Africa. Methods This study comprised quantitative and qualitative arms with a multi-layered approach. We randomly selected 17 public healthcare facilities providing HIV care across Cape Town and surrounding rural municipalities. Results Interviews were conducted with clinicians (n = 11), specialised nursing professionals (n = 10), lay counsellors (n = 12), six patients focus groups (n = 35) and 20 in-depth individual patient interviews. There were mixed views on being treated at integrated vs. separate chronic care facilities regarding quality of care and privacy/anonymity. Specialised clinics offered better care for HIV infection while hypertension and other non-communicable diseases were neglected. Privacy about HIV status maybe better maintained in integrated clinics but not if status was disclosed by having the green-coloured HIV treatment card. A single appointment date was considered advantageous as it saved time and money leading to greater compliance; however, waiting times at clinics were longer with perhaps fewer patients seen. Conclusions The mixed reactions elicited to the integration of healthcare services for HIV, hypertension and other non-communicable diseases highlights the complexities involved in implementing

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