According to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2020–2025, men should consume at least 3,400 mg of potassium per day while women should consume at least 2,600 mg of potassium per day. There is no uniform guideline of potassium intake for CKD patients. From 2005–March 2020, adults with CKD were less likely to meet daily potassium intake guidelines based on the general population compared with those without CKD.
To view the trends in adherence to the recommended daily potassium intake by risk categories, select from the drop-down menu below. Risk categories include CKD, Age Category, Sex, Race/Ethnicity, Diabetes, and Hypertension.
Data includes CKD stages 1–5. Estimates were standardized to the 2010 U.S. Census population for adults.
NHANES is a nationally representative, cross-sectional survey that is currently conducted every two years (since 1999) by CDC's National Center for Health Statistics among noninstitutionalized US civilian residents. The survey consists of a standardized in-home interview and a physical examination with blood and urine collected at a mobile examination center. Data were examined by combining two NHANES cycles to represent four-year periods from 2001 to 2016 and the 2017–March 2020 pre-pandemic cycle.
Note: Not all NHANES variables are collected for all years; therefore, some NHANES indicators may not utilize the full 20-year span.
Time trends in prevalence of adults with CKD who meet guidelines for daily potassium intake.
National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).
Noninstitutionalized U.S. adults aged ≥ 18 years, pregnant women excluded.
2005–March 2020.
U.S. adults aged ≥ 18 years with CKD who meet recommendation for potassium intake in the general population.
U.S. adults aged ≥ 18 years with CKD who have daily potassium intake measurements, overall or by each defined stratum.
CKD is defined by an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) <60 ml/min/1.73 m² or albuminuria (urine albumin to creatinine ratio [UACR] ≥ 30 mg/g). Estimates are based on single estimates of eGFR and UACR.
Based on the CKD-EPI (2021) equation for calibrated creatinine: eGFR=142 x [min(serum creatinine in mg/dL) /κ, 1)]**α x [max(serum creatinine/κ, 1)]**-1.20 x 0.9938**age x (1.012 if female). κ = 0.7 if female and 0.9 if male α = -0.241 if female and -0.302 if male ** = raise to the power
UACR is calculated as urine albumin divided by urine creatinine. Albuminuria is defined as UACR ≥ 30 mg/g.
Serum creatinine values used for eGFR calculation are standardized against isotope dilution mass spectrometry (IDMS).
Measured in random urine collection by fluorescent immunoassay.
Diabetes is defined by self-report of diabetes, treatment with insulin or oral anti-diabetes medications, or HbA1c ≥ 6.5%.
Hypertension is defined by self-reported hypertension, treatment with hypertension medications, or average systolic blood pressure greater than 140 mmHg (130 mmHg for CKD and diabetes) and diastolic blood pressure greater than 90 mmHg (80 mmHg for CKD and diabetes).
Self-reported potassium (mg) was derived from the NHANES one day dietary questionnaire.
According to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2020–2025, adherence to potassium intake guidelines is defined by consuming ≥ 3,400 mg per day in males and ≥ 2,600 mg per day in females.
Age-standardized estimates were standardized to the 2010 U.S. Census population for adults: 18–39 years: 37.1%, 40–59 years: 38.1%, 60–69 years: 12.8%, and 70+ years: 12.0%.
Albuminuria and kidney function are assessed from one-time cross-sectional measurements, possibly overestimating CKD prevalence. Self-reported potassium intake may be subject to recall bias.
Appropriate NHANES survey weights are used for all analyses; if the relative standard error is greater than 30%, the estimates are not shown. Serum creatinine measurements are assay corrected for NHANES years 2005 and 2006 and prior to be combined with later years.
Recommended Potassium Guidelines - AHA
