Comparative study on prevalence and assessment of altered sensorium among sodium abnormality patients at a tertiary care teaching hospital

G.N Sharma, P.A Sreeja*, B Shrivastava, C.I Sajeeth

School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Jaipur National University, Jaipur, India

ABSTRACT

Altered sensorium or altered level of consciousness is a common complaint among electrolyte abnormality patients and has several synonyms like altered behaviour, generalised weakness, lethargy, agitation, psychosis, disorientation, inappropriate behaviour, inattention, confusion, hallucination. The aim of the study was to evaluate the prevalence and to assess the level of consciousness dysnatremic patients at a tertiary care hospital. A prospective observational study, serum sodium level and other clinical profiles were recorded in a data collection form. GCS was used to analyse the level of consciousness among the enrolled patients. SPSS 22.0 statistical software was used for data analysis. During the study period, a total of 482 patients were enrolled in the study. Based on the serum sodium, they were categorized into Hyponatraemic (410) and Hyponatraemic (72) patients. Our study found a greater number of patients in the age group above 60 years and found that sodium imbalance increases generally in males with increasing age. Our study found that altered sensorium (60%) was predominant more in hyponatremia patients. Chi square test was performed to find statistically significant difference in level of consciousness between hypo and Hyponatraemic patients and was found to be significant p value (≤ 0.05). Abnormalities of plasma sodium are probably the most common electrolyte disorders and they are associated with serious morbidity including a poorer long-term neurologic outcome.

Keywords:

Sodium abnormalities, Hyponatremia, Hypernatremia, Glasgow coma scale, Altered sensorium