The Effect of the Sodium to Potassium Ratio on Hypertension Prevalence: A Propensity Score Matching Approach
1
Nutrition and Diet Research Group, Korea Food Research Institute, Seongnam-Si, Kyunggi-Do 13539, Korea
2
Department of Foods and Nutrition, College of Natural Sciences, Dongduk Women’s University, Seoul 02748, Korea
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Nutrients 2016, 8(8), 482; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu8080482
Received: 9 June 2016
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Revised: 20 July 2016
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Accepted: 2 August 2016
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Published: 6 August 2016
This study investigated the effect of the sodium to potassium ratio on hypertension prevalence and blood pressure. The study population was constructed by pooling the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys between 2010 and 2014. The study population was divided into quartiles based on the sodium to potassium ratio, and the effect was inferred by the difference in hypertension prevalence across quartiles by six pairwise comparisons using a propensity score matching technique. The quartiles with the higher sodium to potassium ratio had higher hypertension prevalence rates based on the following pairwise comparisons: the first vs. third quartile, the first vs. fourth quartile, the second vs. third quartile, and the second vs. fourth quartile. The prevalence differences were 2.74% point (p < 0.05), 3.44% point (p < 0.01), 2.47% point (p < 0.05), and 2.95% point (p < 0.01), respectively. In addition, statistically significant higher systolic (p < 0.05) and diastolic blood pressure (p < 0.01) was observed in the second quartiles compared to the first quartiles. Because a strong association was also detected between the sodium to potassium ratio and blood pressure even at a low level of sodium to potassium ratio, a lower sodium to potassium ratio diet than a usual diet is recommended to control high blood pressure in Korea.
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Keywords:
sodium to potassium ratio; hypertension prevalence; blood pressure; selection bias; propensity score matching; logistic regression; average treatment effect on the treated subjects
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MDPI and ACS Style
Park, J.; Kwock, C.K.; Yang, Y.J. The Effect of the Sodium to Potassium Ratio on Hypertension Prevalence: A Propensity Score Matching Approach. Nutrients 2016, 8, 482. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu8080482
AMA Style
Park J, Kwock CK, Yang YJ. The Effect of the Sodium to Potassium Ratio on Hypertension Prevalence: A Propensity Score Matching Approach. Nutrients. 2016; 8(8):482. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu8080482
Chicago/Turabian StylePark, Junhyung, Chang K. Kwock, and Yoon J. Yang. 2016. "The Effect of the Sodium to Potassium Ratio on Hypertension Prevalence: A Propensity Score Matching Approach" Nutrients 8, no. 8: 482. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu8080482
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