Table 2. Average usual intake of sodium, potassium and sodium-to-potassium ratio among U.S. adults aged ≥20 years who were not taking antihypertensive medication, by hypertension status and selected characteristics, NHANES 2005–2010.
| Category2 | Sample N | Usual sodium intake, mean (SE), mg/d1 | Usual potassium intake, mean (SE), mg/d1 | Sodium-to-potassium ratio, mean (SE)1 | ||||
| Hypertensive | Hypertensive | Hypertensive | Hypertensive | |||||
| Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | |
| All | 2178 | 8385 | 3561 (49.2) | 3573 (30.5) | 2770 (51.3) | 2740 (24.1) | 1.40 (0.02) | 1.41 (0.01) |
| Age, years | ||||||||
| 20–50 | 969 | 5998 | 3918 (88.4) | 3684* (34.1) | 2827* (67.9) | 2701* (29.2) | 1.54 (0.03) | 1.48* (0.01) |
| ≥51 | 1209 | 2387 | 3197 (71.2) | 3251 (42.2) | 2696 (50.3) | 2846* (39.1) | 1.27 (0.02) | 1.21* (0.02) |
| Sex | ||||||||
| Male | 1231 | 4202 | 4208 (71.0) | 4232 (44.8) | 3172 (59.9) | 3148 (33.6) | 1.42 (0.02) | 1.45 (0.01) |
| Female | 947 | 4183 | 2833 (54.8) | 3018* (32.8) | 2294 (57.5) | 2388 (25.2) | 1.39 (0.04) | 1.37 (0.01) |
| Race/ethnicity | ||||||||
| Non-Hispanic white | 1055 | 4003 | 3615 (69.5) | 3620 (40.8) | 2866 (56.4) | 2821 (31.5) | 1.37 (0.02) | 1.38 (0.01) |
| Non-Hispanic black | 470 | 1403 | 3355 (112.4) | 3451 (64.1) | 2340 (82.2) | 2334 (42.2) | 1.59 (0.04) | 1.61 (0.02) |
| Mexican-American | 396 | 1793 | 3077 (177.2) | 3367 (64.9) | 2638 (113.9) | 2675 (38.3) | 1.28 (0.05) | 1.36 (0.02) |
| Other | 257 | 1186 | 3815 (186.1) | 3563 (64.2) | 2701 (97.0) | 2639 (44.6) | 1.50 (0.06) | 1.46 (0.02) |
| Body mass index | ||||||||
| <25.0 | 545 | 2945 | 3381 (104.0) | 3541* (51.6) | 2765 (100.4) | 2751 (41.8) | 1.36 (0.05) | 1.38 (0.02) |
| 25.0–29.9 | 744 | 2929 | 3522 (87.2) | 3567 (45.5) | 2802 (67.4) | 2839 (30.5) | 1.35 (0.03) | 1.36 (0.02) |
| ≥30.0 | 868 | 2466 | 3739 (81.7) | 3633 (46.9) | 2745 (64.8) | 2602* (30.0) | 1.47 (0.04) | 1.50 (0.02) |
| History of cardiovascular disease | ||||||||
| Yes | 212 | 334 | 3116 (146.1) | 3219 (154.0) | 2451 (124.7) | 2577 (112.9) | 1.43 (0.07) | 1.35 (0.05) |
| No | 1947 | 8028 | 3610 (54.5) | 3585 (30.6) | 2801 (54.1) | 2744 (23.5) | 1.40 (0.02) | 1.41 (0.01) |
| Diabetes | ||||||||
| Yes | 215 | 426 | 3052 (11.3) | 3579* (138.2) | 2421 (93.8) | 2819* (95.1) | 1.37 (0.05) | 1.36 (0.04) |
| No | 1962 | 7953 | 3596 (51.2) | 3573 (30.9) | 2793 (49.4) | 2737 (24.2) | 1.41 (0.02) | 1.41 (0.01) |
| Self-reported chronic kidney disease | ||||||||
| Yes | 63 | 97 | 2825 (271.7) | 3147 (327.3) | 2134 (176.2) | 2417 (264.8) | 1.45 (0.09) | 1.49 (0.09) |
| No | 2110 | 8276 | 3574 (50.3) | 3577 (30.7) | 2778 (52.1) | 2742 (24.2) | 1.40 (0.02) | 1.41 (0.01) |
| Smoking status | ||||||||
| Current smoker | 562 | 2056 | 3613 (102.0) | 3643 (69.6) | 2747 (75.3) | 2690 (49.1) | 1.45 (0.08) | 1.50 (0.02) |
| Former smoker | 553 | 1727 | 3726 (124.1) | 3664 (66.9) | 2950 (75.7) | 2905 (48.0) | 1.34 (0.03) | 1.35 (0.03) |
| Never smoked | 1061 | 4601 | 3428 (96.7) | 3500 (39.1) | 2680 (76.7) | 2696 (31.4) | 1.40 (0.03) | 1.39 (0.01) |
| Heavy user of alcohol | ||||||||
| Yes | 343 | 1244 | 3805 (123.7) | 3659 (61.5) | 2960 (107.3) | 2792 (40.2) | 1.40 (0.05) | 1.40 (0.02) |
| No | 1722 | 6663 | 3516 (67.7) | 3573 (29.6) | 2722 (55.9) | 2737 (25.0) | 1.41 (0.03) | 1.41 (0.01) |
| Physical activity | ||||||||
| Active | 985 | 4552 | 3822 (78.1) | 3644* (37.4) | 3006 (70.8) | 2813* (28.7) | 1.36 (0.02) | 1.39 (0.01) |
| Inactive | 1169 | 3790 | 3292 (66.3) | 3457* (49.2) | 2561 (44.4) | 2620 (28.7) | 1.44 (0.03) | 1.43 (0.02) |
1
A asterisk indicates p value<0.05 for the comparison between the hypertensive and non-hypertensive groups.
2
The exclusion criteria and definitions for covariates were the same as in Table 1.