1Associate Professor, Dept. of Biochemistry, Osmania Medical College, Telangana
2Senior Resident, Dept. of Biochemistry, Osmania Medical College, Telangana
3Senior Resident, Dept. of Biochemistry, Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Andhra Pradesh
4Assistant Professor, Dept. of Biochemistry, Osmania Medical College, Telangana
5PG Student, Dept. of Biochemistry, Osmania Medical College, Telangana
6Biochemist, Dept. of Biochemistry, Osmania Medical College, Telangana
*Corresponding Author: Email: naazia1586@gmail.com
Online published on 15 September, 2016.
Hypoalbuminemia is a common and vexing problem in hospitalized individuals. Serum albumin levels fall, often dramatically from early in the course of critical illness and will not increase again until the recovery phase of the illness. Increased risk of morbidity and mortality are correlated with lower serum albumin levels.
This study was done to find out the prevalence of hypoalbuminemia in hospitalized patients.
The study was a retrospective observational study which was carried out on 1071 patients. Serum total protein and serum albumin were measured.
165 patients had hypoalbuminemia which accounts for a prevalence of 15%. Patients from burns ward accounted for 44.8%, those from medical wards accounted for 34.5% and from surgical wards for 20.1%. Mean±S.D of serum albumin was 2.5±0.42 g/dl in both burn and medical wards patients and 2.4±0.38 g/dl for those admitted in surgical wards.
Hypoalbuminemia results from decreased production, defective synthesis, deficient intake or increased losses of albumin. Measuring serum albumin concentration can serve as a prognostic marker for predicting morbidity and mortality. The prevalence of hypoalbuminemia was high in patients admitted in burns ward in our study.
Albumin, Total Proteins, Hypoalbuminemia, Morbidity, Mortality
