Frequency of Hypomagnesemia among Hospitalized Diabetic Hypokalemic Patients: A Single Center Experience

Hypokalemia is a severe form of electrolyte imbalance associated with increased mortality and morbidity. The concomitant presence of hypomagnesemia often makes correction of the hypokalemia complex, but due to a lack of routine measurement, it often remains unrecognized. This study aimed to evaluate the frequency of hypomagnesemia in hospitalized diabetic hypokalemic patients. The study was cross-sectional in nature and conducted in the department of Endocrinology, BIRDEM General Hospital, Bangladesh. Seventy confirmed cases of diabetes mellitus (DM) patients with hypokalemia were enrolled as study participants. Data were collected by using a semi-structured questionnaire following informed written consent from all participants. Ethical measures were followed according to the Declaration of Helsinki. The mean age ±SD of the patients was 50.81±12.26, with 57.1% being female and 42.9% being male. The frequencies of hypomagnesemia and hyponatremia were 51.4% and 45.7%, respectively. Older age, longer duration of DM and higher sodium were observed in patients with hypomagnesemia (p<0.05). This study observed the presence of hypomagnesemia among half of the diabetic and hypokalemic patients. A detailed exploration is therefore promoted for this kind of patient.