PREVALENCE OF HYPONATREMIA IN ICU PATIENTS AT PAF HOSPITAL MUSHAF

Abstract

Objectives: To find the prevalence of hyponatremia in ICU patients at PAF Hospital Mushaf, Pakistan. Materials and Methods:  A total of 165 eligible patients were enrolled from the Department of Medicine, PAF Hospital Mushaf, Sargodha, after obtaining informed consent from patients or their attendants. Data were collected prospectively from ICU patients using a structured proforma after ethical approval. Demographic, clinical, laboratory, and outcome data were recorded from patient records, with serum sodium measured routinely. Data were collected by trained researchers, anonymized, and analyzed using SPSS version 25. Results: Among the 165 participants, the mean age was 53.18±12.66 years, with 89 (53.9%) males and 76 (46.1%) females. The largest age group was 61–70 years (35.2%), followed by 51–60 years (29.7%). Hypertension was present in 37.0% and diabetes mellitus in 30.3% of participants. Hyponatremia was observed in 55 (33.3%) patients, while 110 (66.7%) had normal sodium levels. No statistically significant association was found between hyponatremia and age (p=0.65), gender (p=0.43), educational level (p=0.13), hypertension (p=0.64), or diabetes mellitus (p=0.54). Among patients with hyponatremia, 58.2% were male, 29.1% were aged 51–60 years, 29.1% were aged 61–70 years, 34.5% had hypertension, and 27.3% had diabetes mellitus. Conclusion: It was concluded that among patients admitted to the intensive care unit, hyponatremia was relatively common. It is advised to do additional extensive multicenter research to investigate the relationship between hyponatremia and different clinical and demographic characteristics..