ABSTRACT
The patient-oriented paradigm has recently demanded a team-based approach for optimal therapeutic care of patients. The aim of this study was to explore the impact of Brief Counseling (BC) 5 A’s method and Short Message Services (SMS) delivered by clinical pharmacists and nutritionists on sodium intake compared with standard therapy. This study was conducted with pre- and post-test quasiexperimental designs involving 68 hypertensive patients at a government hospital in Banjarmasin. Sodium intake values were obtained using a food-frequency questionnaire. The results indicated that BC and SMS could improve the sodium intake level in the intervention group. The follow-up intervention group had a significantly decreased average value of sodium intake from baseline (p = 0.000). This finding was associated with the improvement of blood pressure. Depending on the baseline blood pressure, systolic/diastolic blood pressure can be lowered to 27.56/15 mmHg. Future research is required to evaluate other team-based strategies that can improve sodium intake in hypertensive patients.
