Hagos, Seifu(BSc, MPH, PHD)Haile, Demewoz(BSc, MSc)Debelo, Sidise2020-12-272023-11-052020-12-272023-11-052020-06http://etd.aau.edu.et/handle/123456789/24359Background: Nutritional factors play an important role in regulation of blood pressure, and development of hypertension. However, no studies have assessed the association between dietary sodium and potassium intake and blood pressure in adults with no prior history of hypertension in Ethiopia. Objectives: To evaluate Sodium and potassium intake and their association with hypertension among adults aged 20-64 years living in Butajira, Ethiopia, 2019. Methods: A community based cross-sectional study was conducted among 432 adults aged 20-64 years living in Butajira, Ethiopia. Blood pressure, anthropometric indices and dietary sodium and potassium were measured. Data on sodium and potassium intake were collected using two 24 hour recalls and usual intake was estimated using the national cancer institute method. One-way analysis of variance was used to compare continuous variables, and Chisquare test was used to compare categorical variables. Multivariable linear regression was used to assess the association of sodium, potassium and sodium-to-potassium ratio with blood pressure, and multivariable logistic regression was used to evaluate their association with hypertension. Results: The estimated mean (SE) usual intakes of dietary sodium, dietary potassium and sodium-to-potassium ratio were 3.2 ± 0.35 g/day, 2.1 ± 0.07g/day and 1.5 ± 0.14 respectively. Usual sodium intake and sodium-to-potassium ratio were associated positively with systolic and diastolic blood pressure. An inverse association was observed with usual potassium intake but the association did not reach statistical significance. The adjusted odds ratio for hypertension was 10.90 (95% confidence interval (CI), 3.79 to 31.31, p<0.05) comparing the highest and lowest quartile of usual sodium intake. After adjusting for potential confounders, there was no association between usual potassium intake and hypertension. Conclusion: This study found that dietary intake of sodium was higher than recommendations by World Health Organization and other major dietary guidelines; however, dietary potassium intake was much lower than recommendations. Dietary sodium intake was associated with higher odds of hypertension, but potassium intake was not associated with hypertension. The sodium-to potassium ratio was found as stronger predictor of hypertension than usual sodium, which implied that potassium intake might also play role in reducing the odds of hypertension.en-USBlood pressure, Hypertension, Sodium, PotassiumThesis