Survey on sodium and potassium intake in patients with hypertension in China

• Published in: The journal of clinical hypertension (Greenwich, Conn.) Vol. 23; no. 11; pp. 1957 - 1964
• Main Authors: Sun, Ningling, Jiang, Yinong, Wang, Hongyi, Yuan, Yifang, Cheng, Wenli, Han, Qinghua, Yuan, Hong, Yang, Li, Guo, Zihong, Sun, Yuemin, Sun, Gang, Yin, Xinhua, Wang, Hao, Mu, Jianjun, Wang, Jiguang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.11.2021; John Wiley and Sons Inc; Wiley
• Subjects: 24 h urinary sodium and potassium excretion; Age; Aged; Antihypertensives; Blood Pressure; Body mass index; Cardiovascular disease; China - epidemiology; Electrolytes; Epidemiology; Female; Gender differences; Heart rate; Hospitals; Humans; Hypertension; Hypertension - drug therapy; Hypertension - epidemiology; Male; Original; Patients; Potassium; Provinces; Salt; Sodium; Sodium and Potassium; Statistical analysis; survey; urinary sodium/potassium ratio; Urine; Womens health; China; survey; 24 h urinary sodium and potassium excretion; hypertension; urinary sodium/potassium ratio
• ISSN: 1524-6175; 1751-7176; 1751-7176
• DOI: 10.1111/jch.14355

Sodium and potassium intake in hypertensive patients in China is not clear. The authors aimed to investigate the distribution of sodium and potassium intake in hypertensive patients in China, and to analyze the relationship between sodium and potassium intake and blood pressure. The study was performed in 130 hospitals from 23 provinces across China from 2016 to 2019. Finally, 9501 hypertensive patients average aged 54 years were included. 24 h urinary sodium and potassium excretion were measured. Distribution of urinary electrolytes were described according to age, gender and region. The association between urinary electrolytes and blood pressure was analyzed by multivariate linear regression. Hypertensive patients exhibited an average 24 h urinary sodium and potassium excretion of 156.7 ± 81.5 mmol/d and 39.2 ± 20.2 mmol/d (equivalent to sodium chloride of 9.2 g/d, potassium chloride of 2.9 g/d), sodium/potassium ratio (median) of 4.14 (2.92,5.73). Urinary electrolytes were lower in women than men (sodium: 171.1 vs 138.7, p < .05; potassium: 40.3 vs 37.7, p < .05), in the elderly than in the younger (sodium: 168.7 vs 139.9, p < .05; potassium: 39.5 vs. 37.5, p < .05). For every 1 unit of Na/K ratio increase, blood pressure increased by 0.46/0.24 mmHg. Blood pressure was 2.75/1.27 mmHg higher in quartile 4 than quartile 1 of Na/K. It remains high sodium and low potassium for hypertensive patients in China. Decreased sodium, Na/K ratio and increased potassium may help for blood pressure management.