Six months audit of precipitating factors for diabetic ketoacidosis Mayo Hospital,Lahore

Aim: to evaluate various precipitating factors for diabetic ketoacidosis. methods: this descriptive one time observational study was conducted in mayo hospital,lahore. patients and their relatives were selected for interview on the basis of convenient sampling. the data was collected on a specially designed proforma. fifty patients were included in the study and the proforma was filled for each patient. all patients were investigated with various blood tests,urine tests,ecg and chest x-rays. the data analysis was computer based. spss 10 was employed. results: the mean age was 31.3 years. 60% of the patients were males. diabetes mellitus was newly diagnosed at presentation in 22% patients. vomiting was present in 44% patients,altered conscious level was observed in 42% patients. mean blood sugar level was 509mg/dl (380-698mg/dl). mean arterial ph value was 7.05 (6.9-7.2). infection (56%) and non-insulin compliance (38%) were the most common precipitating factors. poor knowledge about disease,treatment and follow up was also noted. conclusion: though infection and poor compliance with antidiabetic treatment were the major factors but equal emphasis must be given to the education about the disease and awareness about the early detection of the complications.