Point-of-Care Saliva Osmolarity Testing for the Screening of Hydration in Older Adults With Hypertension

Objectives: Older adults have an elevated risk of dehydration, a state with proven detrimental cognitive and physical effects. Furthermore, the use of diuretics by hypertensive patients further compounds this risk. This prospective study investigated the diagnostic accuracy of point-of-care (POC) salivary osmolarity (SOSM) measurement for the detection of dehydration in hypertensive adults with and without diuretic pharmacotherapy.

Design: Prospective diagnostic accuracy study.

Setting: Home visits to patients recruited from 4 community health centers in West Sulawesi, Indonesia.

Participants: A total of 148 hypertensive older adults (57 men, 91 women). The mean ages of male and female patients were 69.4 ± 11.4 and 68.1 ± 7.8 years, respectively.

Methods: Hypertensive adults were divided into 2 groups based on the presence of diuretics in their pharmacotherapeutic regimen. First-morning mid-stream urine samples were used to perform urine specific gravity (USG) testing. Same-day SOSM measurements were obtained using a POC saliva testing system.

Results: Both USG (P = .0002) and SOSM (P < .0001) were significantly elevated in hypertensive patients with diuretic pharmacotherapy. At a USG threshold of ≥1.030, 86% of diuretic users were classified as dehydrated compared with 55% of non-using participants. A strong correlation was observed between USG and SOSM measurements (r = 0.78, P < .0001). Using a USG threshold of ≥1.030 as a hydration classifier, an SOSM threshold of ≥93 mOsm had a sensitivity of 78.6% and a specificity of 91.1% for detecting dehydration.

Conclusions and implications: Hypertensive patients on diuretics have significantly higher first-morning USG and SOSM values, indicating a higher likelihood of dehydration relative to those on other classes of antihypertensive medication. POC SOSM assessment correlates strongly with first-morning USG assessment, and represents a rapid and noninvasive alternative to urinary hydration assessment that may be applicable for routine use in populations with elevated risk of dehydration.