Demographic variability of urinary tract stones in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Context: Urinary tract stones are a highly prevalent problem affecting public health worldwide. Studying demographic variability in urolithiasis across different geographical areas in terms of prevalence, age, sex, stone composition, climate, and comorbidities can aid in differentiating between varieties of stone types and identifying high-risk populations. Aims: We conducted this study to identify correlations and demonstrate the demographic variability in urinary tract stone cases in Saudi Arabia. Settings and Design: We retrospectively reviewed the data of all patients who underwent stone analysis in our institution between May 2015 and June 2017. Subjects and Methods: We used Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy for stone analysis to analyze the chemical composition of each stone. We recorded the different seasons when the stones were initially analyzed and the demographics of our patients, including age, sex, general comorbidities such as hypertension, diabetes, and other patient-specific comorbidities, and stone type. Statistical Analysis Used: We analyzed our data using the statistical data analysis software IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, version 25.0 (Armonk, NY, USA: IBM Corp). Results: We divided the ages of the patients into seven distinct age groups (0–14, 15–24, 25–34, 35–44, 45–54, 55–64, and + 65) to easily define and compare the incidence of stones within each age group and between sexes. We divided the year into hot and cold seasons according to the annual climate in Saudi Arabia. We also defined patients' coexisting comorbidities in our results. Conclusion: We found that the incidence of some types of urinary tract stones could be predicted by the presence of chronic illnesses in the middle-aged population in Saudi Arabia.