The relationship between serum @entity972 levels and mortality in acute medical admissions is uncertain. In particular, the relevance of @entity2048 in @entity972 level or variations within the normal range remains to be determined. We performed a retrospective cohort study of all emergency medical admissions to St James's Hospital (Dublin, Ireland) between 2002 and 2012. We used a stepwise logistic regression model to predict in-hospital mortality, adjusting risk estimates for major predictor variables. There were 67,585 admissions in 37,828 @entity1 over 11  years. After removing long-stay @entity1 , 60,864 admissions in 35,168 @entity1 were included in the study. Hypokalaemia was present in 14.5% and hyperkalaemia in 4.9%. In-hospital mortality was 3.9, 5.0, and 18.1% in the normokalaemic, hypokalaemic and hyperkalaemic groups respectively. Hypokalaemic @entity1 had a univariate odds ratio (OR) of 1.29 for in-hospital mortality (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.16-1.43; p<0.001). Hyperkalaemic @entity1 had a univariate OR for in-hospital mortality of 5.2 (95% CI 4.7-5.7; p<0.001). The ORs for an in-hospital death for @entity972 between 4.3 and 4.7  mmol/l, and 4.7 and 5.2  mmol/l, were 1.73 (95% CI 1.51-1.99) and 2.97 (95% CI 2.53-3.50) respectively. Hyperkalaemia and hypokalaemia are associated with increased mortality.

Serum XXXX levels as an outcome determinant in acute medical admissions.

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['patients'] @entity2048 :: ('MESH:D004832', 'Disease') :: ['minor abnormalities'] @entity972 :: ('MESH:D011188', 'Chemical') :: ['potassium']
@entity972 :: (MESH:D011188,Chemical) :: ['potassium']
