Control of Dietary Salt Intake at Family Level by Housewives in Tripura, India: A Rural - Urban Comparison

Background Intake of excess salt can lead to high blood pressure a leading cause of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). The behaviour risk factors for hypertension including high salt consumption, alcohol and tobacco use and physical inactivity; among them, salt intake reduction is one of the most cost-effective ways to control hypertension and CVD. Objective To find out the practice of salt intake control among rural and urban women of Tripura. Method This community based cross-sectional study was conducted among 400 housewives from rural and urban areas of Tripura, India for a period of ten months (June 2017-March 2018). A pre-tested, semi-structured interview schedule was used to collect required information regarding their socio-demographic, behavioural characteristics, family history and practice of salt intake control etc. The collected data was entered in SPSS version 16.0, represented in proportions and p<0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Result In present study, less than half of the participants (46% rural vs 41.5% urban) from both areas have good practice on control of salt intake. The mean control scores of rural and urban housewives were 9.7200±1.63246 and 9.4750±1.68927 respectively. Rural housewives had more control of extra salt intake in comparison to urban housewives but difference was not statistically significant (p>0.05). Majority Hindu housewives in rural areas had good control of salt intake than urban housewives (p<0.05). Conclusion The current study found less than half of the participants both in rural and urban areas have good control of dietary salt intake. This finding may provide an idea for development of intervention strategies aiming at increasing salt control-related awareness.