Blood pressure control status and relationship between salt intake and lifestyle including diet in hypertensive outpatients treated at a general hospital

ABSTRACTThe purpose of the present study was to investigate blood pressure (BP) control and salt intake in hypertensive outpatients treated at a general hospital and to examine the relationship between their lifestyles and amount of salt intake. Subjects comprised 429 hypertensive patients (206 males, 223 females, and average age of 71 ± 11 years). We estimated 24-hour salt excretion using spot urine samples and assessed lifestyle using a self-description questionnaire. Average clinic BP and the number of antihypertensive drugs were 132 ± 11/73 ± 8 mmHg and 1.8 ± 0.9, respectively. In all subjects, average estimated salt intake was 9.2 ± 2.8 g/day and the rate of achievement of the estimated salt intake of <6 g/day was 11.2%. In patients with chronic kidney disease or cardiovascular disease, these values were 8.6 ± 2.6 g/day and 15.5%, and 9.1 ± 3.3 g/day and 18.2%, respectively. Estimated salt intake was lower in patients living alone than in those with a family. In a multivariate analysis, estimated sal...