ABSTRACT
Objective: The etiology of kidney stone is multifactorial including environmental, behavioral and genetic. Insights about predisposing causes and mineral composition are mandatory for better management of kidney stone disease. The present hospital-based study aims to explore the mineral constituents and etiologic risks of kidney stones in Thai patients from the four geographic regions of the country. Method: Two hundred and fifty six kidney stone patients from four geographic regions of Thailand, including the northeastern (n=103), the northern (n=81), the central (n=47) and the southern (n=25) were recruited in this study. Of these, 144 patients completed the food frequency questionnaire to assess the kidney stone risk. Mineral composition of stones were analyzed by Fourier transformed infrared spectrometry. Results: Kidney stone frequently affected peoples aged 40-49 years. Only 31.9 % of patients had a positive family history of renal stone. Calcium oxalate (CaOx) stone was the most prevalent type (73.8 %). Uric acid (UA) stone was found in 16.0 % commonly affected peoples aged 60-70 years. Mixed stones, notably CaOx mixed with calcium phosphate (CaP), were more prevalent than pure stones. The food frequency questionnaire data showed that 59.7 % of stone patients consumed less than two liters of water per day. Low intakes of fruits and vegetables were notably present. In contrast, high consumption of rice was observed in over 65 % of stone patients. Conclusion: CaOx mixed with CaP was the most prevalent stone type. UA stone was more likely to occur in the elderly. Kidney stone patients were found to consume less-than-adequate amounts of water, food high in carbohydrates, along with low consumtion of fruits and vegetables. These dietary habits might be risk factors in stone development among the Thai population.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Urinary incontinence is consistently associated with an adverse effect on the quality of life (QoL) for patients. The I-QOL is a self-report quality-of-life measure specific to urinary problems that can be used to assess the impact of urinary incontinence and urinary problems (such as overactive bladder without incontinence) and their treatment. The objectives of the present study were to develop and test the reliability of a Thai version of the Incontinence Quality of Life Questionnaires (IQOL). MATERIAL AND METHOD: The I-QOL was formally translated from the original version to the Thai language with Permission. The translation process included forward translation by 2 translators. Cultural and linguistic modifications ofbothforward versions were done by a group of urologists who had extensive experience in the management of urinary incontinence. Another two Thai-English translators performed the back translation into English. Enrolled subjects included urinary incontinence patient and normal subjects were asked to complete the translated versions of I-QOL and repeated the same two weeks apart for test-retest analysis. Reliability was determined from Cronbach's alpha (reliability coefficient). Pearson's correlation was used to assess test-retest reliability. RESULTS: A 22 items questionnaire was developed. Sixty patients with urinary incontinence and fifty normal subjects were enrolled into the present study. Mean ages (SD) of patients with incontinence and controlled groups were 52.42(13.54) and 48.22(10.27) years. Of the 60 patients with urinary problems, 15(13.6%) had stress urinary incontinence (SUI), 17(15.5%) had overactive bladder (OAB), 13(11.8%) had mixed urinary incontinence, 15(13.6%) had urge urinary incontinence from BPH. The mean scores(SD) of I-QOL in the normal group was 89.63(12.64) and 57.65(20.04) in the urinary incontinence group. Cronbach's alpha of the overall IQOL scores was 0.96. Test-retest reliability done at 2 weeks apart was 0.905. CONCLUSION: The translated I-QOL is valid and applicable in Thais with urinary incontinence problems. I-QOL score reveals that QOL in these patients is lower than that in the normal population.