Abstract:
Background: Electrolyte disorder is the most frequent systemic complication in patients with
neurologic diseases. Disorders of sodium and potassium concentration are the commonest
electrolyte abnormalities and may contribute to mortality unless corrected urgently.Among all
neurologic diseases of adult, stroke ranks first.
Objective: To assess the magnitude of serum electrolyte (sodium, potassium, calcium and
chloride) disorders and associated factors among adult patients with neurologic diseases admitted
to Jimma Medical Center.
Methods: Institutional based cross sectional study was conducted among selected 119adult
neurologic patients by using stratified sampling technique. Blood was drawn from neurologic
patients, centrifuged and level of serum electrolyte (Na, K, Cl, and Ca)was determined. Data
were feed into Epidata 4.4.2.win 64 and exported to SPSS version 20. Binary Logistic
Regression (bivariate and multivariate analysis with backward LR)was used to identifythe
associated factors to electrolyte disorders. Data were expressed in percentage, mean, ± SD and
P-value ≤0.05 considered as a statistically significant. Data were presented with text, tables
Results: From a total of 119 neurologic patients included in this study, about 77(64.7%) were
males and majority of patients (20.2%) were between ages of 18-24 years. Chewing chat (48.7%)
was the most common behavioral practice. The prevalence of at least one electrolyte disorder
was 71.4%and 28.6% of patients had normal electrolyte level. The prevalence of hyponatremia,
hypokalemia, hypochloremia ,hyperchloremia,hypocalcemia,hypernatremia and hyperkalemia
was seen in 37%,35.3%, 21.8%, 19.3% , 16%,14.3% and 1.7%, of patients), respectively.
Hypercalcemia was not found.Occupation, comatose state, taking intravenous fluids, taking
thiazides, both antibiotics and analgesics, history of chronic diseases like hypert ension and
diabetes were factors associated with serum electrolyte disorders.
Conclusion and recommendation:Hyponatremia and hypokalemia were common electrolyte
disorders.Therefore, early screening or measurement of serum electrolyte should be done for
high risk groups.
