ArticleJournal of the colleges of medicine of South Africa2025
Precipitating factors and clinical outcomes of diabetic ketoacidosis in Eastern Cape, South Africa.
Article in Journal of the colleges of medicine of South Africa, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is a common hyperglycaemic emergency in persons living with diabetes (PLWD), and outcomes of treatment depend on the precipitating factor. Methods: A cross-sectional prospective study of patients admitted in the adult high care unit of Nelson Mandela Central Hospital was carried out from 19 February 2022 to 19 January 2023. Patients were assessed for demographic, clinical profiles and outcomes concerning precipitating factors. The outcomes were duration of admission and discharge from the hospital as alive or dead. Results: There were 55 PLWD, all black African, predominantly females, known with diabetes with a mean age of 38 ± 15.8 years. The main precipitants for DKA in descending order were infections (47%), treatment omission (30%) and a new diagnosis of diabetes (19%). The mean duration of admission for all patients was 8.2 ± 5.3 days. The length of hospital stay was 9.5 ± 5.2 days, 5.6 ± 2.2 days, and 8.6 ± 7.6 days, respectively ( Conclusion: The high mortality rates in our DKA patients were mainly related to infections. The high HbA1c indicates poor glycaemic control preceding DKA. Improving glycaemic control, preventing infections, and early treatment of infections can reduce DKA-related mortality among patients. Contribution: This study provides a comprehensive analysis of DKA in resource-limited settings, focusing on its precipitating factors, clinical profiles, and outcomes among adults in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Infections were identified as the leading precipitant, with poor glycaemic control prevalent across all cases and a mortality rate of 16.4%, primarily due to sepsis. The findings highlight the urgent need for strategies to improve glycaemic control, prevent infections, and ensure timely interventions to reduce DKA-related mortality. This research aligns with the
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.