Frequency of Hypokalemia, Clinical Implications and Risk Factors in Patients of COVID-19

Objective: To determine the frequency of hypokalemia among COVID-19 patients and assess its impact on the patients management. Study type, settings & duration: It was a cross-sectional study conducted at Mayo Hospital, Lahore from July 2020 to January 2021. Methodology: A total of 212 SARS-COV-2 positive patients who had developed severe disease were enrolled. Based on the level of potassium, the patients were classified as mild, moderate and severe hypokalemia cases. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire including demography, clinical presentations and medication including use of anticoagulant and steroids. Results: Of the total 210, 46 (21.9%) patients had hypokalemia and among them 23 (11%) showed mild, 17 (8.1%) moderate and 6 (2.9%) severe hypokalemia. Out of 210, 17 (23.9%) patients were treated with hydrocortisone, 11 (17.4%) with methylprednisolone and 18 (23.3%) with dexamethasone and no significant difference was seen in development of hypokalemia (p =0.630). Similarly, 39 (21.4%) patients were given enoxaparin and 7 (24.1%) were given heparin, but no significant association was found between the type of anticoagulant being given and hypokalemia (p =0.754). No significant difference was observed with respect to gender in the development of hypokalemia (p =0.782). Conclusion: This study showed that hypokalemia was a significant clinical manifestation among SARS-COV-2 patients. Further it was noted that treatment regime used for COVID-19 management and gender of the patients are not a risk factor for developing the hypokalemia.