Abstract Background Cardiovascular diseases are the major cause of hospitalization. Dietary salt restriction is indicated as part of clinical treatment, however, it is not always well accepted by the patients, resulting in low food intake and malnutrition. Objective To compare acceptance of a low-sodium diet cooked with salt with a standard low-sodium diet in cardiac inpatients. Methods A randomized controlled crossover trial in patients with low-sodium diet prescriptions (Clinical Trials NCT03481322). Patients were given a control standard low sodium diet (cooked without salt; salt [2g per meal] added by the patient at the time of consumption) on one day and on the next day patients were given the intervention diet – a low sodium diet cooked with salt (2 grams of salt, divided between preparations). Dietary acceptance was evaluated by weighing leftover food and calculating intake. A questionnaire was used to verify reasons that influenced acceptance. For data analysis, parametric data are presented as mean and standard deviation, Student’s t test was used to compare means, with significance defined as p<0.05. Results Sixty-four patients were evaluated, with a mean age of 66 ± 11.3 years; 64% were male. There were no differences in percentage acceptance between the standard low-sodium diet and the low-sodium diet cooked with salt at lunch (p= 0.876) or at dinner (p= 0.255). Around 80% of what was offered at each meal was consumed by the patients, with no significant difference between groups. Conclusions The low-sodium diet cooked with salt was well accepted, but there was no difference when compared with the standard low-sodium diet, which also had adequate acceptance.

Abstract Background Malnutrition can affect the clinical course of hospitalized patients, increasing hospital stay, infections, mortality, and hospital costs. Among heart disease patients, the malnutrition prevalence ranges from 25 to 51.9%. Objective To assess the prevalence of malnutrition and its association with clinical complications in cardiac patients admitted to a cardiology hospital. Method Retrospective cohort study with patients evaluated within 48 hours of admission to the ward of a referral center for cardiology in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Patients were aged 18 years or older. Malnutrition was assessed by Subjective Global Assessment. Length of hospital stay, transfer to the intensive care unit (ICU), hospital discharge and in-hospital death were collected from medical records. Statistical analysis was performed using the SPSS 22.0 program. Comparisons between groups with and without malnutrition were made by unpaired Student's t-test and chi-square test with adjusted residuals, and multivariate Poisson regression used for analysis of outcomes. The significance level considered was 5%. Results We evaluated 130 patients aged 63 ± 13 years, 63% were male, and the most frequent cause of hospitalization was angina (25%). The prevalence of malnutrition was 27% and, after statistical adjustment for age, malnutrition was positively associated with ICU transfer and length of hospital stay longer than seven days. Conclusion The prevalence of malnutrition found in this sample was 27% and this nutritional diagnosis was positively associated with ICU transfer and length of hospital stay longer than seven days. (Int J Cardiovasc Sci. 2020; [online].ahead print, PP.0-0)