{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.04274891774891775, 'fraction_numerical': 0.02922077922077922, 'mean_word_length': 4.637195121951219, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Longitudinal association between sodium and potassium intake and physical performance in older adults.

BACKGROUND
Ageing is associated with a progressive difficulty to maintain ion regulation, which might impair the capacity for muscle contraction. Thus, the aim of this study was to examine the association between 5-year changes in dietary intake of sodium and potassium and changes in physical performance among older adults.


METHODS
We performed a prospective study with 868 participants from the Seniors-ENRICA cohort. Diet was measured with a validated diet history and physical performance was measured with the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB), both in 2012 and 2017. Analyses were performed with linear regression models adjusted for socio-demographic variables, lifestyle and morbidity, using changes in the intake of sodium and potassium and changes in the sodium/potassium ratio during follow-up as independent variables, and the continuous change in the SPPB score as the dependent variable.


RESULTS
Over 5-years of follow-up, a 1-standard deviation (SD) increase in sodium intake (i.e. 0.73 g/d) was associated with a 0.13 (95% CI: 0.26 to 0.01) points reduction in the SPPB score, while a 1-SD increase in potassium intake (i.e. 0.70 g/d) was associated with a 0.19 (0.05 to 0.34) points increment in the score. In addition, a 1-SD increase in the sodium-to-potassium ratio (i.e. 0.30) was associated with worse SPPB (-0.58 [-0.95 to -0.21]). Participants who adhered to dietary recommendations for minerals at baseline but became non-compliant during follow-up decreased their result in the SPPB.


CONCLUSION
An increase of dietary sodium intake, a decrease of potassium intake and the resulting increment in the sodium-to-potassium ratio were prospectively associated with worse physical performance in older adults.