Clinical features, outcome and cost of hyponatremia-associated admission and hospitalization in elderly and very elderly patients: a single-center experience in Turkey

Purpose Hyponatremia is a common electrolyte disorder in hospitalized patients. Clinical features, outcome and cost of hyponatremia-associated admission and hospitalization in elderly and very elderly patients are not well known. Methods Elderly (>64 years) patients admitted to the emergency department (ED) and hospitalized between January 1, 2010, and December 31, 2010, were evaluated. Hyponatremia was defined as serum sodium level below 135 mmol/L. Hyponatremic patients were divided into two groups: group 1 ( n = 150, 65–74 years old) and group 2 ( n = 103, >74 years old). Results A total of 4,960 patients above 65 years of age admitted to ED and hospitalized were included. Prevalence of ED in group 1 and group 2 was 4.1 % (150/3,651) and 7.8 % (103/1,309), respectively ( p