Dietary Sodium and Hypertension Status: A Quantitative Study Exploring Older Adults’ Food Purchasing and Consumption Behaviour

Objectives: The purpose of the study was to investigate the relation between hypertension (HTN) status and the amount of sodium purchased and consumed by community dwelling older adults. The secondary objective was to compare their accordance with the DASH dietary pattern according to hypertension status. Method: A dietary survey of 30 community dwelling older adults was conducted. The amount of daily sodium purchased and consumed, DASH score and DASH accordance were compared between the hypertensive and normotensive older adults using grocery receipts and 24-hour dietary recall. Participants’ knowledge, concern and behaviour regarding dietary sodium were also assessed using a researcher administered study questionnaire. Result: There was no significant difference in both the amount of sodium purchased (p = 0.07) and consumed (p = 0.61) by the older adults with and without hypertension. Older adults with HTN had significantly lower DASH scores (DASH score = 1.8) than those without HTN (DASH score = 4.3) (p \u3c 0.001), with only 6.3% of HTN adults considered as DASH accordant. Participants’ knowledge and concern regarding dietary sodium did not show any meaningful relationship with the amount of sodium purchased and consumed. Conclusion: This study implied a need for more established guidelines regarding reduction of sodium content of processed, pre-packaged and restaurants foods in the Canadian food supply. The need for more involvement of health professionals regarding dietary modification to prevent and manage hypertension in addition to greater public health efforts is also apparent from the findings of the study