{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,22]],"date-time":"2026-09-22T16:51:42Z","timestamp":1790095902845,"version":"4.0.1"},"reference-count":0,"publisher":"BMJ","issue":"1","content-domain":{"domain":["bmj.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["BMJ Qual Improv Report"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2015]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n               <jats:p>Hypokalaemia is prevalent in 20% of hospitalised patients. Furthermore, inadequate management of hypokalemia was identified in 24% of these patients. Associated with significant patient morbidity and mortality, the identification, investigation, and treatment of hypokalaemia was identified as an area for improvement in the management of medical inpatients.<\/jats:p>\n               <jats:p>The project aims to measure the assessment, management, and therapeutic monitoring of medical inpatients with hypokalaemia in a district general hospital.<\/jats:p>\n               <jats:p>All medical inpatients over a one week period who met the criteria for hypokalaemia (serum potassium &lt;3.5 mmol\/L on standard biochemical sample) were included in the audit. Patient's notes were located and evaluated to identify if they had mild, moderate, or severe hypokalaemia. Further data on ECG requests, repeat U&amp;Es, serum magnesium analysis, treatment prescribed, and medication review dates was collated. A re-audit was completed after the introduction of a set of interventions which included a hypokalaemia treatment algorithm.<\/jats:p>\n               <jats:p>Pre-intervention analysis of all medical inpatients, who met our inclusion criteria for hypokalaemia, identified 32 patients. 25 of these patients met the criteria for mild hypokalaemia (3.1-3.4 mmol\/L) and 7 met the criteria for moderate hypokalaemia (2.5-3.0 mmol\/L). Only 7\/32 (22 %) patients were receiving adequate treatment based on trust guidelines.<\/jats:p>\n               <jats:p>Post intervention results showed marked improvement in the management of patients with hypokalaemia. A total of 30 patients were identified in this post-intervention group. There were 16\/30 patients who qualified as mild hypokalaemia (3.1-3.4 mmol\/L) and 14\/30 with moderate hypokalaemia (2.5-3.0 mmol\/L). 19\/30 (63%) patients in the post-intervention group were correctly prescribed appropriate medication doses consistent with the treatment algorithm.<\/jats:p>\n               <jats:p>Following the initial success of the project, analysis at 3 months showed a positive trend for sustained improvement when compared to the pre-intervention results.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjquality.u209049.w3670","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2015,8,19]],"date-time":"2015-08-19T21:31:47Z","timestamp":1440019907000},"page":"u209049.w3670","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/crossmarkpolicy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":14,"title":["Hypokalaemia: Improving the investigation, management and therapeutic monitoring of hypokalaemic medical inpatients at a district general hospital"],"prefix":"10.1136","volume":"4","author":[{"given":"Mark","family":"Jordan","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Wrexham Maelor Hospital, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jenny","family":"Caesar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Wrexham Maelor Hospital, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"239","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2015,8,19]]},"container-title":["BMJ Quality Improvement Reports"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/syndication.highwire.org\/content\/doi\/10.1136\/bmjquality.u209049.w3670","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,31]],"date-time":"2025-08-31T18:11:33Z","timestamp":1756663893000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/qir.bmj.com\/lookup\/doi\/10.1136\/bmjquality.u209049.w3670"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2015]]},"references-count":0,"journal-issue":{"issue":"1","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2015,8,19]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2015]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1136\/bmjquality.u209049.w3670"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/bmjquality.u209049.w3670","relation":{},"ISSN":["2050-1315"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2050-1315","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2015]]}}}