Salt intake assessment by questionnaire and urinary sodium excretion

Extract: A questionnaire designed to assess salt intake was distributed to a sample of 113 healthy female subjects. The questionnaire was validated with 36 subjects collecting complete 24-h urine samples (analysed for sodium) for 7 days, along with using pre-weighed table and cooking salt pots. Intake was well predicted for table salt use (r = 0.67), cooking use (r = 0.57), non-discretionary intake (r = 0.65), and total salt intake (r = 0.61). The test-retest reliability for the estimate of total intake was good (r = 0.75). Measured total salt intake for the 36 subjects was found to be 7.4 g NaCl/day, with only 11% from discretionary salt use. Mean questionnaire estimates agreed closely with the measured values.(author)