Hyperkalemia Case Study

The study population in this task is untreated hyperkalemia patients with at least 12 months continuous enrollment. The sample inclusion and exclusion criteria are listed as below.
Inclusion:
• Had at least two lab tests with serum potassium >5.0 mEq/L within a year o The earliest serum potassium test indicating hyperkalemia will be defined as the index event and the associated date of service will be defined as the index date.
• Had at least 12 months continuous enrollment
• Were 18 years or older as of the index date
Exclusion:
• Received medications (i.e., diuretics, sodium polystyrene sulfonate or patiromer) to treat or reduce the symptoms of high amount of potassium in the blood
• Hospitalized or had any emergency room visits with the primary diagnosis code as 276.7
• Received a hemodialysis or dialysis with a diagnosis code as 276.7
The lab results will be categorized into calendar quarters based on the month of service. The calendar quarter that has the index event will be treated as quarter one. Since this task requires 12-month continuous enrollment, all selected samples will have 4 quarters. In the case when a patient had multiple serum potassium tests in one quarter, the average value will be calculated to represent the result of that quarter.
3.3 Describe the change of serum potassium over time by the severity of hyperkalemia
To examine the change of potassium over time by the severity of hyperkalemia, the study population will be classified into the following groups based on their first serum potassium result.
- Mild hyperkalemia: 5.0 < serum potassium ≤ 5.5 mEq/L
- Moderate hyperkalemia: 5.5 < serum potassium ≤ 6.0 mEq/L
- Severe hyperkalemia: serum potassium > 6.0