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How Much Intake of Sodium Is Good for Frailty? : The Korean Frailty and Aging Cohort Study (KFACS)

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The journal of nutrition, health & aging

Abstract

Objective

The aim of this study was to determine how sodium intake can affect frailty, but not anorexia, in community-dwelling older adults in Korea.

Design

This was a cross-sectional study.

Setting

The study used data from the Korean Frailty and Aging Cohort Survey (KFACS), a multi-center longitudinal study addressing 10 centers across urban, rural, and suburban communities in Korea, between 2016 and 2017.

Participants

A total of 954 older adults who underwent both 24-hour dietary recall assessment and physical function test during the first-year baseline investigation of the KFACS.

Measurements

Frailty was determined according to the Fried frailty index (FFI).

Results

Of the 954 participants, 461 (48.3%) were male and the mean age was 76.3 years old. The average daily sodium intake was 3857 mg. The frailty prevalence in first to third quartiles was 21.8%, 7.5%, and 5.4%, respectively, and increased in the fourth quartile of sodium intake to 8.9%. Using the second quartile of sodium intake (2504–3575 mg) as reference, the odds ratios of frailty were 1.64 (95% confidence interval: 0.84–3.22), 1.33 (0.57–3.06), and 4.00 (1.72–9.27) for the first (<2504 mg), third (3575–4873 mg), and fourth (≥4873 mg) quartiles, respectively, in a multivariate-adjusted analysis.

Conclusion

Low sodium intake (<2504 mg) is related to frailty in older people, but it seems to be a less important factor than other nutritional factors. The prevalence of frailty did not increase up to a daily sodium intake of 3575 mg, but it increased upon a daily sodium intake higher than 3575 mg.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by a grant of the Korea Health Technology R&D Project through the Korean Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI), funded by the Ministry of Health & Welfare, Republic of Korea (grant number: HI15C3153).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Family Medicine, Kyung Hee University Medical Center, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    S. Kim & Chang Won Won

  2. Department of Biomedical Science and Technology, College of Medicine/East-West Medical Research Institute, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    M. Kim

  3. Institute of Health and Environment, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    J. Min

  4. Department of Family Medicine, Asan Chungmu Hospital, Asan, Republic of Korea

    J. Yoo

  5. Department of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, Hanyang University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    M. Kim & J. Kang

  6. Institute for Health and Society, Hanyang University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    M. Kim & J. Kang

  7. Elderly Frailty Research Center, Department of Family Medicine, College of Medicine, Kyung Hee University, 23 Kyungheedae-ro, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul, 02447, Republic of Korea

    Chang Won Won

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  1. S. Kim
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Correspondence to Chang Won Won.

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Kim, S., Kim, M., Min, J. et al. How Much Intake of Sodium Is Good for Frailty? : The Korean Frailty and Aging Cohort Study (KFACS). J Nutr Health Aging 23, 503–508 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-019-1198-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-019-1198-6

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