Dietary sodium intake restriction in patients with heart failure: an overview of systematic reviews

This study aimed to identify, assess, and summarize systematic reviews on dietary sodium intake restrictions for patients with heart failure. Literature searches were conducted on Pubmed, CINAHL, ScienceDirect, Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, and the Wanfang Database up to January 2024. The methodological quality of the included reviews was assessed using the quality assessment tool from the Australian JBI Center for Evidence-Based Healthcare (2016). The results of systematic reviews and meta-analyses were synthesized and presented according to different outcome indicators. Nine systematic reviews were included in this study. The current evidence does not support the fact that dietary sodium intake restrictions for patients with heart failure have a positive impact on mortality rates, rehospitalization rates, and quality of life. Conversely, strict dietary sodium intake restrictions (≤ 2000 mg/day) may increase the risk of death, rehospitalization, and symptom exacerbation. Dietary sodium intake restriction may not have a positive impact on clinical outcomes in patients with heart failure. Nevertheless, more evidence is required to explore the differences in the impact of various levels of dietary sodium restriction on the outcomes and symptom management indicators of patients with heart failure.