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Dehydration in hospital-admitted stroke patients: detection, frequency, and association
Anne Rowat1, Catriona Graham, Martin Dennis
1Edinburgh Napier University, School of Nursing and Midwifery and Social Care, Edinburgh, Scotland. a.rowat@napier.ac.uk
Background And Purpose:
We aimed to determine the frequency of dehydration, risk factors, and associations with outcomes at hospital discharge after stroke.
Methods:
We linked clinical data from stroke patients in 2 prospective hospital registers with routine blood urea and creatinine results. Dehydration was defined by a blood urea-to-creatinine ratio >80.
Results:
Of 2591 patients registered, 1606 (62%) were dehydrated at some point during their admission. Independent risk factors for dehydration included older age, female gender, total anterior circulation syndrome, and prescribed diuretics (all P<0.001). Patients with dehydration were significantly more likely be dead or dependent at hospital discharge than those without (χ(2)=170.5; degrees of freedom=2; P<0.0001).
Conclusions:
Dehydration is common and associated with poor outcomes. Further work is required to establish if these associations are causal and if preventing or treating dehydration improves outcomes.
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Disorder of Water Balance
Dehydration
Dehydration occurs when the body loses fluids (particularly water).
Causes:
The major causes of dehydration include excessive sweating, fever, vomiting, diarrhea, and diuresis.
Signs and Symptoms:
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