The low-sodium diet is a known preventive factor for hypertension and cardiovascular disease. Factors associated with low-sodium diets should be identified to reduce sodium intake effectively. This study was conducted to identify factors correlated with a low-sodium diet.
This cross-sectional study analyzed data from a total of 14,539 Koreans aged 20 years or older, who participated in the Fourth (2007-2009) Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. A low-sodium diet was defined as having ≤2,000 mg/day based on 24-hour recalls. Multiple logistic regression models were used to assess sex, age, education, number of family members, household income, occupation, alcohol drinking, total energy intake, frequency of eating out, and hypertension management status for their associations with low-sodium diets.
Among all participants, only 13.9% (n=2,016) had low-sodium diets. In the multivariate analysis, 40-49 years of age, clerical work jobs, higher total energy intake, and frequent eating out were inversely associated with low-sodium diets. And female sex and living-alone were associated with low-sodium diets. Lower frequency of eating out was significantly associated with low-sodium diets, even after adjusting for total energy intake and other potential confounders. Adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence interval) for a low-sodium diet were 1.97 (1.49-2.61), 1.47 (1.13-1.91), 1.24 (0.96-1.61), and 1.00 (reference) in people who eat out <1 time/month, 1-3 times/month, 1-6 times/week, and ≥1 time/day, respectively.
Our study suggests that sex, age, number of family members, occupation, total energy intake, and lower frequency of eating out were associated with a low-sodium diet in Korean adults.
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To achieve a polio-free certification in Iran, a nationwide active surveillance program for acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) was set up following World Health Organization guidelines. This article describes the results of an eight-year surveillance of AFP in Hamadan, in the west of Iran.
A standard set of minimum core variables were collected. All cases of non-polio AFP in children aged <15 years old were reported. Two stool specimens were collected within 14 days of the onset of paralysis.
During the eight-year survey, 88 AFP cases aged <15 years old were reported. About 40% (35/88) of cases were aged ≤5 years, 56% (49/88) were boys, 19 (21.6%) had fever at the onset of paralysis, 74 (84.0%) had complete paralysis within four days of onset, and 22 (24.7%) had asymmetric paralysis. More than one AFP case was detected per 100,000 children aged <15 years old in all years. The risk of AFP in patients aged <5 years old was almost double that of older patients. Guillain-Barré Syndrome was the major leading cause of AFP (66/88). Adequate stool specimens were collected from 85% of AFP patients. All stool specimens were tested virologically, but no wild polioviruses were detected.
The active surveillance of non-polio AFP was efficient over the last eight years and exceeded 1.0 case per 100,000 children aged <15 years old. Nonetheless, there was a decreasing trend in the detection of AFP cases during the last two years and should be the focus of the policymakers' special attention, although AFP cases were still above the target level.
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