Recruitment and baseline characteristics of the participants
overweight, CVD, dyslipidemia
OBESE, CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES, CVD, RECRUITMENT, SECONDARY, HYPERTENSION, DYSLIPIDEMIA
From March 29 to June 4, 2019, a total of 352 candidates were screened for eligibility. After an initial assessment, 30 declined to participate and 11 did not meet the inclusion criteria. Thus, 311 participants were enrolled, comprising 224 women and 87 men with a median age of 44 years (IQR 34–54 years), who were randomly assigned to either a salt reduction-focused program (The study ended before the estimated 500 participants were recruited due to lower than anticipated recruitment rates. All participants contributed to baseline data and their characteristics are shown in Baseline demographic and clinical characteristics of participants by randomized group.Data are number of participants (%), mean (standard deviation), and median (interquartile range). CVD, cardiovascular diseases; BMI, body mass index; BP, blood pressure. p values were calculated using independent samples t test, Mann–Whitney U test or chi-squared test as appropriate.Most participants were white Europeans (92.6%), professionally active (81.0%), and had a university degree (74.9%). Additionally, over half were overweight or obese (61.4%) and had an average adherence to a Mediterranean diet (67.2%) at baseline. Two-thirds of the participants had a family history of hypertension, dyslipidemia, or CVD (66.9%), while almost one-fourth had dyslipidemia (26.0%). At study entry, 17.0% of participants reported having hypertension, and 22.5% were taking antihypertensive medication. At baseline, the mean systolic/diastolic BP was 116/76 (SD 15/10) mmHg, and the estimated mean 24-h urinary NaThe study’s primary and secondary outcome measures are presented in Mean difference in outcome measures after 12 weeks.Values are mean (95% CI). ANCOVA models were adjusted for study center, age, sex, antihypertensive medications, baseline systolic blood pressure value, participant program protocol compliance and smoking status. *After the 12-week intervention, there were no significant differences observed between the salt reduction-focused and healthy lifestyle programs regarding predicted 24-h urinary NaThe reduction in BP within the groups may be attributed to the enhancement in predicted 24-h K