The Study
Study on the Correlation between Urinary Sodium and Potassium Excretion and Blood Pressure in Adult Hypertensive Inpatients of Different Sexes
This study found that people with higher salt in their pee tended to have higher blood pressure, and people with less potassium in their pee tended to have higher blood pressure — but it didn’t prove that salt or potassium made the blood pressure go up. It just saw a pattern in one group of sick people.
Analysis score
Maximum 44 for a cross-sectional study.
Where the score came from
This study looked at how much salt and potassium people pee out and how it relates to their blood pressure, especially in men and women with high blood pressure.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 534 / 100
Quality score
Snapshots of a population at a single point in time, or descriptions of small groups. Can identify correlations and prevalence, but cannot determine cause and effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1Yes — women’s blood pressure showed stronger links to salt and potassium levels, suggesting diet may affect them more.
- 2Men peed out more salt than women.
- 3Salt in urine linked to higher blood pressure in both sexes, but more strongly in women.
- 4Less potassium in urine linked to higher nighttime blood pressure, especially in women.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
International Journal of Clinical Practice
Year
2022
Authors
Liming Duan, Xiao Li, Qiongjie Li, Jin Zhao, Li Zhao, Jun Zhang, Ze-Hui Wang, Q. Han
Related Content
Claims (6)
People who pee out more salt tend to have higher blood pressure, and this pattern shows up in lots of different groups of people around the world.
In people in Shanxi Province with high blood pressure, those who excrete more sodium in their urine tend to have higher blood pressure readings, and this link is even stronger in women, which might mean salt affects women’s blood pressure more than men’s.
People in Shanxi Province with high blood pressure who pee out less potassium tend to have higher blood pressure, especially at night—and this pattern is stronger in women than in men.
In Shanxi Province, men with high blood pressure tend to pee out more salt than women with high blood pressure, even though they both pee out similar amounts of potassium—this suggests men might be eating more salt or keeping more salt in their bodies than women.
In people with high blood pressure in Shanxi Province, those who excrete more sodium in their urine tend to have higher blood pressure—even when you account for things like age, weight, diabetes, and cholesterol—and this link is even stronger in women.
In men and women with high blood pressure in Shanxi Province, women’s blood pressure seems to be more closely linked to how much salt and potassium they pee out, and this link shows up in more ways than it does in men.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.