The impact of income and education on dietary habits in stone formers.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the impact of socioeconomic status (SES) on dietary habits in stones formers (SF) as there is an obvious association between dietary habits and risks of urolithiasis.


METHODS
SF were selected to complete the Diet History Questionnaire (DHQ) and an SES questionnaire. Meaningful dietary constituents were generated from DHQ raw data. SF were considered of lower SES if they had less than 12 years of education and lived below the poverty level.


RESULTS
Ninety-nine SF completed the DHQ and SES questionnaires. Thirty-seven SF had low education, whereas 62 high education levels. Significant mean dietary constituents by education level (lower vs higher) were calcium (1058.4 vs 705.0 mg/d), carbohydrate (394.9 vs 253.4 g/d), cholesterol (398.7 vs 253.4 mg/d), dietary fiber (24.6 vs 17.9 g/d), food energy (3307.9 vs 2051.5 kcal/d), phosphorus (1903.9 vs 1220.1 mg/d), potassium (4195.6 vs 2861.5 mg/d), and sodium (5136.8 vs 3050.5 mg/d) (P <.05). Thirty-four SF were below the poverty level and 60 above it. Significant mean dietary constituents by annual income (below vs above poverty level) were carbohydrate (397.6 vs 259.3 g/d), dietary fiber (26.1 vs 17.8 g/d), magnesium (481.8 vs 316.7 mg/d), and potassium (4141.9 vs 3031.6 mg/d), (P <.05).


CONCLUSIONS
SES impacts dietary habits and this may strongly influence stone formation and recurrence. Therefore, dietary counseling and modification as prevention for further stone formation should be more emphasized in SF of lower SES.
Department of Urology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia 30322, USA.
Daniel T
DT
Saint-Elie
Perene V
PV
Patel
Kelly A
KA
Healy
Tania
T
Solomon
John G
JG
Pattaras
Jing
J
Qian
Viraj A
VA
Master
Kenneth
K
Ogan
D004522:Educational Status; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D052878:Urolithiasis / Q000453:epidemiology*