[Sodium chloride intake and supply of iodine in the Swiss population]

The controversial salt intake in a representative sample of the Swiss adult population was evaluated by measuring the sodium excretion in the urine of 966 adult probands of different regions in Switzerland. Prior to this study the validity of a widely used and easy method for the analysis of sodium excretion in large scale studies was investigated by determination of the quotient of sodium excretion and creatininuria in a single urine sample and the calculation of the 24-h values. The results with this method were compared to those of determination of effective sodium content in the 24-h urine samples of 43 probands. Similar mean values were demonstrated for both methods. On the other hand, only 53.5% of the individual results were between +/- 30% of the effective values. It is therefore concluded that this method is useful only for large scale studies but not for individual evaluations of sodium excretion. The mean sodium excretion was 176.2 +/- 105.9 mmol/24 h for the 966 probands. This corresponds to a daily salt intake of 10.3 +/- 6.2 g. Determination of the effective sodium excretion in 24-h urine samples of 147 probands, which differed slightly from the whole collective with regard to age and sex distribution, confirmed these data with a mean sodium excretion of 143.2 +/- 62 mmol/24 h, corresponding to a daily salt intake of 8.4 +/- 3,6 g. Iodine excretion in the 24-h urine samples of 112 probands completed the study.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)