Abstract:
Abstract
Background: Hypertension is a medical condition in which a person's blood pressure is
?140/90 mmHg. It caused 9.4 million fatalities annually across the globe. Its
complications can damage many target organs among which kidney is common. But there
exists scarcity of data among hypertensives in our settings. This study aimed to assess
renal function test abnormalities, selected serum electrolyte imbalances, and associated
factors among hypertensives at Tibebe Ghion Comprehensive Specialized Hospital.
Method: Hospital based comparative cross-sectional study among hypertensives and
normotensives was conducted. A total of 236 (118 hypertensives and 118 normotensives)
participants were involved and systematic random sampling technique employed. Data
were collected using the structured questionnaire and medical records. Five ml of fasting
blood sample and 15 ml urine was collected. Serum albumin, blood urea nitrogen, serum
creatinine, serum uric acid, sodium, potassium, and chloride was measured by siemens
ADVIA 560 clinical chemistry analyser and urinary protein by dipstick method. Data were
entered into Epidata version 4.6 and exported to Stata version 14 for analysis. Hosmer
Lemeshow goodness of fit model and independent t-test was used. Bivariate and
multivariate analysis performed to test for association. P value <0.05 was considered to be
statistically significant at 95% confidence level.
Result: The prevalence of renal function test abnormality and electrolyte imbalance
among hypertensives was 39.83 % and 54.24 % respectively. The prevalence of
hypoalbuminemia, elevated serum creatinine, hyperuricemia, proteinuria, and
hyponatremia was 16(13.56%), 23(19.5%), 29(24.6%), 24(20.3%), and 20(16.95%)
respectively. The mean 盨D serum creatinine, serum uric acid, and potassium among
hypertensives were 1.04�28(95% CI; 0.977-1.084), 5.83�1(95% CI; 5.450-6.213), and
4.46�87(95% CI; 4.307-4.626) whereas among normotensives was 0.828�166(95%
CI; 0.797-0.858), 4.53�24(95% CI; 4.301-4.754), and 4.23�44(95% CI; 4.153-4.317)
respectively. Systolic blood pressure ?140 mmHg, diastolic blood pressure ?90 mmHg,
and duration of hypertension >5 years, dietary salt consumption, and alcohol intake were
associated with RFT abnormality and electrolyte imbalances.
Conclusion and recommendation: Hypertensives have significantly increased mean 盨D
serum creatinine, serum uric acid and potassium compared to their counterparts. Regular
measurement of RFT parameters and serum electrolytes are strongly needed.
Keywords; Associated factors, Electrolyte imbalance, Renal function test abnormalities
