3. Association of low sodium intake with mortality in prospective observational studies.

Study	Multiple adjustment*	Exclusion	N (LS)	N (US)	RR/OR (95% CI)
Alderman 1998 (NHANES I)	Yes	None	2837	8509	0.88 (0.80, to, 0.97)
He 1999 (NHANES I)	Yes	Overweight (BMI > 27.3)	1699	5098	0.98 (0.88 to 1.09)
Tuomilehto 2001	Yes	Males**	634	311	0.91 (0.56 to 1.48)
Cohen 2006 (NHANES II)	Yes	None	3711	3443	0.78 (0.67 to 0.91)
Gelijnse 2007	Yes	CVD and HT	392	392	1.12 (0.86 to 1.46)
Cohen 2008 (NHANES III)	Yes	None	2175	4350	0.83 (0.73 to 0.94)
Yang 2011 (NHANES III)	Yes	Overweight (BMI > 25)	3067	6133	0.93 (0.73 to 1.18)
Stolarz‐Skrzypek 2011	Yes	None	1250	1220	0.82 (0.62 to 1.08)
Gardener 2012	Yes	None	1138	961	0.89 (0.74 to 1.07)
Pfister 2014 (Norfolk)	Yes	0‐2 year events	3070	9249	0.92 (0.82 to 1.02)
O'Donnell 2014 (PURE)	Yes	CVD, Cancer, DM, smokers	6162	38643	0.62 (0.54 to 0.71)]
Total (95% CI)#			21369	67078	0.84 (0.76 to 0.93)
Total (95% CI)##			21123	65450	0.87 (0.76 to 0.98)

Only studies, which were representative for the general population and which adjusted for confounders were included.

If subgroup results were given, the results of the most healthy subgroup was used in the analysis to reduce

the possibility of reverse causation

#With primary NHANES analyses (Alderman 1998, Cohen 2008)

## With NHANES re‐analyses (He 1999, Yang 2011)

* Studies were generally adjusted for at least sex, age and CVD risk factors

** In the male group a low salt intake group could not be identified, as the salt intake

in the lowest salt intake quartile was up to 159 mmol.

BMI: body mass index; CVD: cardiovascular disease; DM: diabetes mellitus; HT: hypertension