Hyponatremia Is Associated with Worse Outcomes from Fall Injuries in the Elderly

Background: Hyponatremia has been proposed as a contributor to falls in the elderly, which have become a major global issue with the aging of the population. This study aimed to assess the clinical presentation and outcomes of elderly patients with hyponatremia admitted due to fall injuries in a Level I trauma center. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed data obtained from the Trauma Registry System for trauma admissions from January 2009 through December 2014. Hyponatremia was defined as a serum sodium level < 135 mEq/L, and only patients who had sustained a fall at ground level (< 1 m) were included. We used Chi-square tests, Student t-tests, and Mann-Whitney U tests to compare elderly patients (age >= 65 years) with hyponatremia (n = 492) to those without (n = 2002), and to adult patients (age 20-64 years) with hyponatremia (n = 125). Results: Significantly more elderly patients with hyponatremia presented to the emergency department (ED) due to falls compared to elderly patients without hyponatremia (73.7% vs. 52.6%; OR: 2.5, 95% CI: 2.10-3.02; p < 0.001). Elderly patients with hyponatremia presented with a worse outcome, measured by significantly higher odds of intubation (OR: 2.4, 95% CI: 1.15-4.83; p = 0.025), a longer in-hospital length of stay (LOS) (11 days vs. 9 days; p < 0.001), higher proportion of intensive care unit (ICU) admission (20.9% vs. 16.2%; OR: 1.4, 95% CI: 1.07-1.76; p = 0.013), and higher mortality (OR: 2.5, 95% CI: 1.53-3.96; p < 0.001), regardless of adjustment by Injury Severity Scores (ISS) (AOR: 2.4, 95% CI: 1.42-4.21; p = 0.001). Conclusions: Our results show that hyponatremia is associated with worse outcome from fall-related injuries in the elderly, with an increased ISS, longer LOS, and a higher risk of death.