Hospital-based descriptive study of symptomatic hyponatremia in elderly patients.

BACKGROUND Hyponatremia is a common electrolyte disturbance in the hospitalized elderly sick patients. There is no existing record for profiling of symptomatic hyponatremia in elderly Indian subjects. OBJECTIVES To study clinical features and etiology of hyponatremia in elderly hospitalized patients. To classify severity of hyponatremia in hospitalized elderly METHODS All elderly patients admitted to ICU with serum sodium level < =125 mmol/L were included in study. RESULTS 100 patients with symptomatic hyponatremia (serum sodium < =125 mmol/L) were studied. The CNS symptoms included drowsiness, lethargy, confusion, seizures and coma. There was female preponderance of cases (55%). The common co-morbid conditions were Hypertension (69%) and diabetes mellitus (51%). Females tolerated hyponatremia better than males with mortality of 9.09% in females and 33.33% in males (p = 0.0026). The common cause of Hyponatremia was SIADH (30) followed by drugs of which diuretics was the major contributor. CONCLUSION Hyponatremia was more common in females and they seemed to better tolerate it than their male counterparts. Diuretics should be used with caution in elderly.