Objective: To study the occurrence and characteristics of hypokalemia to the patients with acute and severe mental disorders, and analyze its influencing factors.
Methods: There were 815 patients with actue and severe mental disorder admitted into our psychiatry department from June 2009 to May 2010, who all received the examination of potassium concentration routinely at the admission. The patients were divided into hypokalemia group and non-hypokalemia group, and the clinical information were surveyed and compared between the two groups to find out the influencing factors of hypokalemia.
Results: There were 177 patients with hypokalemia, and the proportion was 21.72%. Between the two groups, the difference of age, sex, admission season, whether with physical diseases and diagnosis were statistically significant (P < 0.05), while spiritual movement situation was not significant different (P > 0.05). Spearman rank correlation analysis showed that the incidence of hypokalemia was negatively correlated with age (r = -0.55, P = 0.00). Furthermore, multivariate analysis found that women, poor diet and physical disease were risk factors of hypolalemia (P < 0.05).
Conclusion: There is relatively high probability of hypokalemia occurrence to the patients with acute and severe mental disorders, which should be distinguished and treated at the admission timely.