Associations between thirst, assessed hydration and plasma osmolality.

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Is There an Association Between Perception of Thirst, Clinical Assessment Of Hydration and Plasma Osmolality

• IRAS ID

  224946

• Contact name

  M Montgomery

• Contact email

  h.montgomery@ucl.ac.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  University College London

• Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier

  Z6364106/2017/07/85, UCL Data Protection Registration

• Duration of Study in the UK

  0 years, 2 months, 31 days

• Research summary

  Dehydration is common amongst hospitalised patients, and is associated with both increased death and complications. Identifying and treating dehydration is therefore important. However, clinical assessment of dehydration is known to be unreliable.
  
  In healthy individuals, thirst is a good measure of dehydration and its associated changes in plasma osmolality (which is a measure of water content in the blood) and can be measured through a blood test. Whether this is true amongst patients is less clear. We wish to determine, firstly, the relationship between how well doctors assess patients for dehydration and laboratory markers which show up in the blood and urine. Secondly, we hope to establish the relationship between thirst and these markers as well as factors which may affect how patients perceive thirst. We have chosen to study patients undergoing major surgery, as this subgroup population are at particular risk of dehydration and its sequelae.

  The project will take place on the Post Anaesthetic Care Unit (PACU) at University College Hospital’s Westmoreland Street over a three month period. Adult inpatients who have undergone major surgery will be asked to take part. Clinicians of varying grades will be asked to assess patients’ hydration status, at which time patients will also be asked to report how thirsty they are. A blood sample will then be drawn to assess serum osmolality, blood sugar, urea, creatinine, and sodium. A urine sample for urine osmolality will also be taken, unless its validity is negated because of certain operations or drugs.

  We anticipate that clinicians may be poor at recognising dehydration and its severity, and that thirst sensation may better correlate with biochemical markers of dehydration. It is hoped that the results of this study will help drive quality improvement in the diagnosis and management of dehydration in the perioperative setting.

• REC name

  North East - York Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  17/NE/0298

• Date of REC Opinion

  15 Sep 2017

• REC opinion

  Favourable Opinion