Introduction: Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is the most serious acute complication of Diabetes and the percentage of hospitalizations in the Algarve region is higher when compared to average hospitalizations in Portugal. The goal of this work was to characterize the patients hospitalized due to DKA and to identify risk factors associated with hospitalization.

Material and methods: in this retrospective study we analyzed hospitalizations at the Centro Hospitalar Universitário do Algarve due to DKA between 2013 and 2015 and demographic, medical and laboratorial data were extracted. The data from hospitalized patients under consultation at the Diabetology Unit (DU) were compared with data obtained from patients also followed at the Diabetology unit that were not hospitalized.

Results and discussion: 59 patients were hospitalized between 2013-2015 totalizing 74 episodes and on average hospitalized patients were younger 27,9±18,3 vs 37,2±11,6 years [p=0,012]), were diagnosed more recently (11,3±9,2 vs 18,0±10,5 years [p=0,020]), have worse glycemic control (HbA1c 11,8±2, vs 8,5±1,6% [p<0.001]) and had fewer consultations at the DU (2,0±1,7 vs 2,9±1,1 consultations [p=0,010]) compared with patients with no hospitalizations. This study also showed that patients with more than one hospitalization are responsible for 30% of the episodes and are on average younger (17,8±5,7 vs 40,1±24,9 years; p<0,001) and were diagnosed at a younger age (7,5±3,5 vs 19,6±15,9 years; p<0,001).

Conclusion: this study allowed to extract social and demographic data from a population at greater risk of hospitalization due to diabetic ketoacidosis and to identify characteristics of patients that may benefit from a closer survaillance.