Association between Electrolyte Disorders and the Severity of COVID-19 Infection in Children Admitted to Amirkola Hospital 2020-21

Background and

The aim of the study was to determine the relationship between electrolyte disorders and disease severity in children with COVID-19 infection referred to Amirkola Children's Hospital.

We performed the cross-sectional study on children aged 1 month to 18 years with COVID-19 infection referred to Amirkola pediatrics hospital, Babol, Iran from March 2018 to July 2018. The level of serum of potassium, sodium, calcium, and fasting blood sugar were measured at the beginning of hospitalization in all study children. Severity of COVID-19 infection was evaluated with Pediatric Early Warning Score (PEWS). Data were analyzed using Chi-Square, ANOVA, and logistic regression tests. P-values of less than 0.05 were considered significant.

Out of 160 children referred to the hospital during the study, 122 were selected. The most common electrolyte disorders were hyponatremia (42.6%) and hypocalcaemia (16.4%). No significant relationship was found between calcium (P=0.30) and potassium (P=0.12) disorders and severity of COVID-19 infection. There was a significant relationship between the sodium disorder and severity of COVID-19 infection (P<0.001). Also, the results of the logistic test illustrated that after adjusting confounding variables (age and gender), children with hyponatremia experienced a higher chance of severe COVID-19 infection (OR: 6.31.00; CI: 2.61, 15.28; P<0.0001).

Hypernatremia and hypocalcaemia are the most common electrolyte disorders in children with COVID-19 infection. Hypernatremia was associated with increased chance of severe COVID-19 infection.