Low Blood Sodium Level at Hospital Admission Linked to Increased Risk of Premature Death

Among 2960 patients >40 years old who were admitted to a hospital in Greater Copenhagen and were followed for a median of 5.16 years, the 1-year mortality rate was higher for patients with hyponatremia (plasma sodium level <137 mmol/L) at hospital admission than in those with normonatremia (27.5% vs. 17.7%). Hyponatremia was linked with a 60% and 40% increased risk of all-cause mortality after 1 year and after the entire observation period, respectively. Patients with hyponatremia had a hospital stay of 7.6 days compared to 5.6 days for those with normonatremia. The findings are published in the Internal Medicine Journal.