Association between kidney dysfunction and electrolytes imbalance among HIV patients attending Muhororo District Hospital

Abstract

Background: Kidney diseases has been recognized as one of the challenging complications in HIV infected people. Hyponatremia and hyperkalemia are the most disturbed electrolytes associated with an increased risk of death both in hospitalized and in ambulatory HIV patients. Aim: The study aimed to assess the association between renal dysfunction and serum electrolytes disorders among HIV infected patients. Method: It was a retrospective study conducted at Muhororo district hospital from May up to July 2023. HIV infected patients were enrolled in the study and their serum creatinine, sodium, potassium and chloride were tested and the results analyzed by using SPSS version 22. A P-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significance.   Result: Among 115 HIV infected patients, 67.8% were females and 32.1% were males. The Mean serum creatinine was elevated among HIV infected patients [1.01(mg/dl) ±0.27, 0.99(mg/dl) ±0.26], and 40.8% had hyponatremia, 8% had hypernatremia, 6% had hypokalemia 7.8% had hyperkalemia 17.3% had hypochloremia and 20% had hyperchloremia Mean serum sodium was slightly decreased [134.1(mmol/l) ±11.8], there was no change in mean of both serum K+ and CL_ [4.4 (mmol/l) SD±1 / 100.7(mmol/l) with SD±14.2 for serum Cl-]. Serum creatinine was significantly associated with Na+ and K+ [P=0.04, r=-0.19/ p=0.01, r= 0.22] however the correlation between Cl- and Serum creatinine was not statistically significant [P=0.3, r=-0.08].   Conclusion: The study found elevated serum creatinine and, the weak correlation between creatinine and electrolytes in HIV infected patients on ART.  The present findings need to be confirmed with further studies with large sample size. HIV infected patients should change life style that predispose their health to the development of kidney diseases they must also stick on healthcare provider’s counselling. Keywords: HIV, Kidney Dysfunction, Serum electrolytes.