title: Prevalence of Hyponatremia in Palliative Care Patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Hyponatremia is an undertreated finding in clinical practice. It is the most common electrolyte abnormality. Hyponatremia can be asymptomatic or can cause symptoms ranging from nausea and lethargy to convulsions and coma. Palliative care patients have a multitude of symptoms and there are several contributing factors towards this. Hyponatremia could be one of the contributing factors. Looking at the prevalence of hyponatremia would highlight the magnitude of the problem and would prompt healthcare professionals to investigate and treat hyponatremia in palliative care patients, which in turn might reduce symptoms such as fatigue and nausea. This could improve the quality of life in palliative care patients.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To assess the prevalence of hyponatremia among patients referred for palliative care in a tertiary care hospital.
  
  
  METHODS
  This is a descriptive study, with retrospective analysis of consecutive patient charts for 5 years. The sodium levels at the time of referral for palliative care, was reviewed. Inferential statistics for the result was calculated using the Z-test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 2666 consecutive patient charts that were reviewed, sodium values were recorded in 796 charts. Among the recorded charts, 28.8 % of patients showed hyponatremia at the time of referral which was significant with a P value of 0.000 (<0.05). Of these, 61.1 % had malignancy as their diagnosis and the rest had nonmalignant diseases, ranging from trauma to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Prevalence of hyponatremia is significant in palliative care patients. A prospective study looking at the causes and clinical outcomes associated with hyponatremia in palliative care patients is needed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Palliative Medicine, St. John's Medical College Hospital, Bangalore, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: Shoba
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nair
authors.affiliation: Department of Palliative Medicine, St. John's Medical College Hospital, Bangalore, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: Thiophin Regina
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Mary
authors.affiliation: Department of Palliative Medicine, St. John's Medical College Hospital, Bangalore, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: S D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Tarey
authors.affiliation: Department of Palliative Medicine, St. John's Medical College Hospital, Bangalore, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: Sudha Pauline
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Daniel
authors.affiliation: Department of Palliative Medicine, Fatima Mission Hospital, Palai, India.
authors.forename: Jose
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Austine
keywords: Hyponatremia; Palliative care; Prevalence