Department of Biochemistry, Kathmandu Medical College, Duwakot, Bhaktapur, Nepal.
Department of Community Dentistry, College of Dental Sciences, Nepal Medical College, Jorpati, Kathmandu, Nepal.
JNMA J Nepal Med Assoc. 2021 Jan 31;59(233):35-38. doi: 10.31729/jnma.5764.
Magnesium deficiency is common in the elderly and critically ill population and has been associated with a prolonged ICU stay. The knowledge of hypomagnesemia is essential as it could have prognostic and therapeutic implications in the elderly population. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of hypomagnesemic in the elderly population visiting a tertiary care center.
This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital from March 21, 2020 to September 21, 2020. After obtaining ethical clearance from the institutional review committee (Ref. 2003202008), convenience sampling was done. Data were collected and entered in Microsoft Excel version 2007. Point estimate at 95% Confidence Interval was calculated along with frequency and proportion for binary data.
Out of 384 participants, 174 (45%) participants were found to have deranged magnesium levels, in which 111 (29%) (31.3-26.7 at 95% Confidence Interval) were found to be hypomagnesemia. Among them, 62 (29.4%) males and 49 (28.5%) females were hypomagnesemia. The average level of serum magnesium was 2.02±0.76 mg/dl ranging from 0.03 to 4.71. The mean age of participants was 70.31±8.13 years, among which the participants between the age group of 71-80 years presented with a maximum percentage of hypomagnesemia.
The present study has shown that an apparently-healthy elderly population may have a magnesium deficiency that may need to be identified and treated for optimizing clinical care. Further multicentric studies with a greater sample size should be done in this field, which will benefit the elderly population.
镁缺乏在老年人和重症患者中很常见，并且与 ICU 住院时间延长有关。了解低镁血症非常重要，因为它可能对老年人群具有预后和治疗意义。本研究旨在评估在一家三级保健中心就诊的老年人群中低镁血症的患病率。
这是一项在 2020 年 3 月 21 日至 2020 年 9 月 21 日期间在一家三级保健医院进行的描述性横断面研究。在获得机构审查委员会的伦理批准（参考号 2003202008）后，进行了便利抽样。数据收集并输入 Microsoft Excel 版本 2007。计算了 95%置信区间的点估计值，以及二项数据的频率和比例。
在 384 名参与者中，有 174 名（45%）参与者的镁水平异常，其中 111 名（29%）（95%置信区间为 26.7-31.3）被发现患有低镁血症。其中，62 名（29.4%）为男性，49 名（28.5%）为女性患有低镁血症。血清镁的平均水平为 2.02±0.76mg/dl，范围为 0.03 至 4.71。参与者的平均年龄为 70.31±8.13 岁，其中年龄在 71-80 岁之间的参与者中低镁血症的比例最高。
本研究表明，看似健康的老年人群可能存在镁缺乏，需要识别和治疗以优化临床护理。在这一领域应进行更多具有更大样本量的多中心研究，这将使老年人群受益。
