Table 2

Hospital outcomes of pneumonia patients by hyponatremia status


Hyponatremia present
(n = 649)
Hyponatremia absent
(n = 7,316)
p value*


Hospital mortality (%)
5.4
4.0
0.099
Proportion on MV (%)
3.9
2.3
0.014
Proportion in ICU (%)
10.0
6.3
<0.001
Mean (SD) ICU LOS (days)
6.3 (5.6)
5.3 (5.1)
0.069
Mean (SD) HLOS (days)
7.6 (5.3)
7.0 (5.2)
<0.001
Median (95%CI) hospital costs
$7,086 ($3,765–$14,221)
$5,732 ($2,966–$12,290)
0.001

MV = mechanical ventilation; ICU = intensive care unit; SD = standard deviation; HLOS = hospital length of stay; CI = confidence interval

*P-values obtained using Wilcoxon rank-sum test or Median score test for continuous variables, and chi-square test for categorical variables

Zilberberg et al. BMC Pulmonary Medicine 2008 8:16   doi:10.1186/1471-2466-8-16