High Estimated Dietary Salt Intake in the Czech Republic: A Multicentre Urinary Sodium Analysis Supporting the National Cardiovascular Plan

Objective: Excess dietary sodium is a major modifiable determinant of elevated blood pressure. Habitual salt intake can be indirectly estimated from urinary sodium excretion. We aimed to quantify average daily salt intake in a large multicentre Czech cohort to guide a national salt-reduction programme baseline. Design and method: In this retrospective, multicentre study, we analysed urinary sodium data from adults > 18 years treated as outpatients or inpatients for any indication across three hospitals in the Czech Republic between 2023 and 2025. Patients with acute kidney injury or end-stage kidney disease were excluded. Statistical analyses were performed using MedCalc (v20.215); non-parametric tests were applied. Results: Overall, 10,678 urine samples were obtained from 2,725 individuals: 1,497 men (54.95%) and 1,228 women (45.05%). Urinary sodium excretion differed significantly between men and women (p < 0.0001). The estimated mean daily intake was approximately 12.2 g/day of table salt in men and 9.2 g/day in women. Conclusions: In this multicentre real-world cohort, estimated dietary salt intake was high and significantly greater in men than in women. Key limitations include a lack of data on concomitant medications (e.g., diuretics) and clinical context/diagnoses that may influence sodium excretion. These findings support ongoing efforts within the Czech Republic's national health initiative to reduce population salt intake.