P172 WHAT ARE CONSUMERS’ KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDES, AND BEHAVIORS RELATED TO REDUCED-SODIUM SALT? A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

Background and objective: Despite compelling evidence of the efficacy of reduced-sodium salt in lowering blood pressure and cardiovascular disease risk, it is currently an underutilized intervention. To inform the approaches needed to scale-up use of reduced-sodium salt, it is important to understand how it is perceived by consumers. This study systematically assessed consumers’ knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors relating to reduced-sodium salt. Methods: PubMed, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) plus, Cochrane Central Register for Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) and Google Scholar (all years to 8 February 2024) were systematically searched to identify studies reporting quantitative or qualitative outcome measures of knowledge, attitudes, or behaviors related to reduced-sodium salt. Reduced-sodium salt was salt where all or a proportion of sodium chloride is replaced with a non-sodium component. The population of interest included consumers, healthcare professionals and chefs. Results: Twenty-eight studies from 11 countries were included. 17 were evaluations following a reduced-sodium salt intervention and 11 were descriptive studies of knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors in the general population. Intervention studies in China identified high overall acceptability, with medium-to-long-term continued use, ranging from 65 to 83% of participants despite about half reporting adverse taste differences. Rates of reduced-sodium salt use were lower among the general population groups studied (ranging from 10-16%) where interventions such as education and cost subsidization were not used. Descriptive studies without a reduced-sodium salt intervention found lower knowledge and awareness among consumers compared to healthcare professionals. Conclusions: Differences in taste were detectable by many but did not appear to affect overall acceptability of reduced-sodium salts. Increased awareness and knowledge about reduced-sodium salt, particularly among the general population, will be key to scaling the use of reduced-sodium salts.