Knowledge, attitude and behaviour on salt intake and its association with hypertension in the Malaysian population: findings from MyCoSS (Malaysian Community Salt Survey)
Volume
40
Publisher
Publisher URL
DOI
10.1186/s41043-021-00235-0
Journal
Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition
Issue
ISSN
2072-1315
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Background: High blood pressure or hypertension has become one of the main health problems, worldwide. A number of
studies have proven that an increased intake of salt was related to an increased prevalence of cardiovascular diseases. Of late,
its relationship with high salt intake has received a lot of attention. Studies in Malaysia have shown both rising hypertension
over time as well as high salt consumption. Actions to reduce salt intake are essential to reduce hypertension and its disease
burden. As such, we carried out a study to determine associations between knowledge, attitude and behaviour towards salt
intake and hypertension among the Malaysian population.
Methods: Data obtained from the Malaysian Community Salt Survey (MyCoSS) was used partially for this study. The survey
used a cross-sectional two-stage sampling design to select a nationally representative sample of Malaysian adults aged 18
years and above living in non-institutional living quarters (LQ). Face-to-face interviews were done by trained research
assistants (RA) to obtain information on sociodemography, medical report, as well as knowledge, attitude and behaviour of
the respondents towards salt intake and blood pressure.
Results: Majority of the respondents have been diagnosed with hypertension (61.4%) as well as knowledge of the effects of
high salt intake on blood pressure (58.8%). More than half of the respondents (53.3%) said they controlled their salt intake on
a regular basis. Those who knew that a high salt diet could contribute to a serious health problem (OR=0.23) as well as
those who controlled their salt intake (OR=0.44) were significantly less likely to have hypertension.
Conclusion: Awareness of the effects of sodium on human health, as well as the behaviour of controlling salt intake, is
essential towards lowering the prevalence of hypertension among Malaysians.