TABLE 4.

Risk of bias assessment of prospective studies examining dietary sodium and its association with all-cause mortality¹

Reference	Association	Control of key confounding	Selection unrelated to sodium/outcome	Coinciding follow-up/baseline exam	Departures from intended exposure	Potential for systematic error	Potential for random error	Adequate follow-up
Cook et al. (91)	+	L	L	L	U	L	L	L
Lamelas et al. (136)	+	H	M	U	U	H	H	U
Doukky et al. (96)	0	H	H	U	U	H	L	U
He J et al. (111)	0	L	H	L	U	L	L	U
Kalogeropoulos et al. (123)	0	H	H	H	U	H	L	U
Liu H et al. (143)	0	L	L	H	U	H	H	L
Merino et al. (154)	0	L	U	L	U	H	H	L
Singer et al. (192)	0	H	H	H	H	H	H	U
Welsh et al. (216)	0	L	L	L	U	H	H	U
Lelli et al. (138)	−	L	M	H	U	L	H	U
Saulnier et al. (189)	−	H	H	U	U	H	H	U
Mente et al. (152)	U-shaped	H	H	U	U	H	H	U
Total high rankings		7	6	3	1	8	7	0

¹ n = 12. H, high; L, low; M, moderate; U, unclear.