Does a Doctor's Word Change Sodium Behavior?

Behavioral Epidemiology · Logistic Regression · National Survey Data · Sai Manasa Adduru, PharmD, MPH

Logistic Regression in R National Survey Data High-Risk Patient Population Counseling Gap Analysis

42%

High-risk patients who received dietary sodium counseling

68%

Sodium reduction rate among those who received counseling

19%

Sodium reduction rate among those without counseling

26pt

The counseling gap · larger than the behavior gap itself

The Counseling Gap vs The Behavior Gap

The counseling gap (58%) · the proportion of high-risk patients not counseled · was larger than the behavior gap, pointing to a systemic failure before behavior change can even begin.

Sodium Reduction Rate · Counseled vs Uncounseled

Doctor's advice nearly tripled the sodium reduction rate (19% → 68%) · demonstrating meaningful efficacy, but only when counseling actually happens.

Counseling Receipt by Risk Category

Even among the highest-risk patients (hypertension + CKD), only 54% reported receiving sodium counseling · the gap persists across all risk levels.

Logistic Regression · Predictors of Sodium Reduction

Receiving physician advice was the strongest independent predictor of sodium reduction (OR 2.8), outperforming age, income, and education in the model.