Open AccessThe effectiveness, feasibility, and acceptability of low‐sodium salts worldwide: An environmental scan protocol
Author(s) -
Yin Xuejun,
Liu Hueiming,
Trieu Kathy,
Webster Jacqui,
Farrand Clare,
Li KaChun,
Pearson Sallie,
Tian Maoyi
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
the journal of clinical hypertension
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.909
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1751-7176
pISSN - 1524-6175
DOI - 10.1111/jch.14054
Subject(s) - snowball sampling , psychological intervention , medicine , systematic review , nonprobability sampling , protocol (science) , environmental health , medline , alternative medicine , nursing , political science , pathology , population , law
Excess sodium intake elevates blood pressure and risk for cardiovascular diseases. The use of low‐sodium salts is a potentially cost‐effective strategy to counter the rising global burden of cardiovascular diseases. This research aimed to understand the potential scale‐up of low‐sodium salt interventions by examining the availability of low‐sodium salts globally, synthesizing evidence about the effectiveness of low‐sodium salt interventions, and identifying the challenges and opportunities associated with implementing low‐sodium salt interventions. This study consists of three parts. The first part is a systematic online search of low‐sodium salts. The authors will use the advanced search functions of search engines and online shopping sites to execute the search. The second part is a systematic review of academic literature on the use of low‐sodium salts. A meta‐analysis will be performed to quantify the effectiveness of low‐sodium salt interventions. The third part is key informant interviews to understand the challenges of implementing low‐sodium salt interventions. Key informants will include policymakers, academic researchers, and salt industry representatives. The list of key informants will be generated through purposive sampling and snowball sampling based on the completed online search and the systematic review. The interview guides will be developed based on the RE‐AIM (Reach, Effective, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance) framework. The study received ethics approval from the University of New South Wales Human Research Ethics Advisory Panel (HC190921). Findings will be disseminated with academics and policymakers through a peer‐reviewed journal and conference presentations.