ADMISSION HYPONATREMIA IN THE ELDERLY - FACTORS INFLUENCING PROGNOSIS

The authors studied the occurrence of admission hyponatremia and its a ssociation with selected patient and hospitalization characteristics a nd in-hospital mortality in a geriatric patient cohort (n = 4,123). Pr evalence of admission hyponatremia was 3.5% and higher among women (4. 6% vs 2.6%). In-hospital mortality was 16% for patients with admission hyponatremia versus 8.0% for patients without admission hyponatremia. Adjusting for patient and hospitalization characteristics with a logi stic regression analysis, admission hyponatremia was a significant ind ependent predictor of mortality (RR = 1.95). Admission hyponatremia is associated with poor prognosis in the elderly hospitalized population .