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Community-acquired hypokalemia in elderly patients: related factors and clinical outcomes

  • Nephrology - Original Paper
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A Correction to this article was published on 31 March 2022

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Abstract

Purpose

Electrolyte imbalance is a common problem affecting the elderly. Increased number of comorbidities and frequent use of drugs may contribute to increased risk of hypokalemia in the elderly. This study was performed to investigate the prevalence of community-acquired hypokalemia (CAH), risk factors for its development, related factors with hypokalemia, and morbidities and all-cause mortality rates (MR) of CAH in the elderly patients.

Methods

Total of 36,361 patients aged above 65 years were screened retrospectively. Group 1 consisted of 269 elderly patients with potassium level ≤3.5 mmol/L, and group 2 (control group) consisted of 182 subjects with potassium level between 3.6 and 5.5 mmol/L. Etiologic factors of CAH, presence of comorbidities, duration of hospital stay, hospital cost, and clinical outcomes were recorded.

Results

Prevalence of hypokalemia was found 3.24% in patients aged above 65 years. Duration of hospital stay, presence of ≥2 comorbid diseases, hospital cost, and MR were significantly higher in group 1 compared to group 2 (p < 0.001 for all). Loop diuretics, hydrochlorothiazides, beta agonists, inadequate oral intake, and female gender were all independent risk factors for CAH in elderly patients. Patients with ≥2 comorbid diseases were found to have greater risk of hypokalemia than the patients with <2 comorbidities.

Conclusions

Length of hospital stay, hospital cost, and MR were higher in elderly with CAH. Female gender, hydrochlorothiazides, loop diuretics, and ≥2 comorbid diseases are the leading risk factors associated with CAH in elderly.

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Acknowledgements

This study was accepted as free communication at the 53rd ERA-EDTA Congress, 2016.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Nephrology, Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Mersin University, 33079, Mersin, Turkey

    S. Bardak, K. Turgutalp, M. B. Koyuncu, M. Harı, S. Demir & A. Kıykım

  2. Department of Business Information and Biostatistic Management, Silifke School of Applied Technology and Management, Mersin University, Silifke/Mersin, Turkey

    İ. Helvacı

  3. Department of Biostatistics, School of Medicine, Mersin University, Mersin, Turkey

    D. Ovla

  4. Division of Nephrology, Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Istanbul Bahcesehir University, Istanbul, Turkey

    M. Horoz

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  1. S. Bardak
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  2. K. Turgutalp
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  3. M. B. Koyuncu
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  4. M. Harı
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  5. İ. Helvacı
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  6. D. Ovla
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  7. M. Horoz
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  8. S. Demir
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  9. A. Kıykım
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to K. Turgutalp.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Additional information

The original online version of this article was revised. In this article author name M. Hari is incorrectly written as H. Hari. The full name is Mustafa Hari.

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Bardak, S., Turgutalp, K., Koyuncu, M.B. et al. Community-acquired hypokalemia in elderly patients: related factors and clinical outcomes. Int Urol Nephrol 49, 483–489 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11255-016-1489-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11255-016-1489-3

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