title: Urolithiasis risk: a comparison between healthcare providers and the general population.
abstract: Healthcare providers have many health-related risk factors that might contribute to urolithiasis: a heavy workload, a stressful workplace, and an unhealthy quality of life. However, the urolithiasis risk in healthcare providers is not clear.
  
  
  
  Using Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database, we identified 50,226 physicians, 20,677 pharmacists, 122,357 nurses, and 25,059 other healthcare providers as the study cohort and then randomly selected an identical number of patients who are not healthcare providers (general population) as the comparison cohort for this study. Conditional logistical regression analysis was used to compare the urolithiasis risk between healthcare providers and comparisons. Physician specialty subgroups were also analyzed.
  
  
  
  Physicians had a lower urolithiasis risk than did the general population (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 0.682; 95 % confidence interval [CI]: 0.634-0.732) and other healthcare providers (AOR: 0.661; 95 % CI 0.588-0.742) after adjusting for hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, coronary artery disease, and residence location. For pharmacists, nurses, and other healthcare providers, the urolithiasis risk was not significantly different than that for general population. Subgroup analysis showed that surgeons and family medicine physicians had a lower urolithiasis risk than did physician comparisons (AOR: 0.778; 95 % CI: 0.630-0.962 and AOR: 0.737; 95 % CI: 0.564-0.962, respectively).
  
  
  
  Although job stress and heavy workloads affect physicians' health, physicians had a lower urolithiasis risk than did the general population and other healthcare providers. This might be attributable to their greater medical knowledge and access to healthcare. Our findings provide useful information for public health policy makers about the disease risks of healthcare providers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Chi-Mei Medical Center, Yongkang District, Tainan City, 710, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Ming-Hung
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Healthcare Administration and Medical Informatics, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Shih-Feng
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Weng
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Chi-Mei Medical Center, Yongkang District, Tainan City, 710, Taiwan.|Department of Biotechnology, Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Tainan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chien-Chin
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Chi-Mei Medical Center, Yongkang District, Tainan City, 710, Taiwan.|Department of Biotechnology, Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Tainan, Taiwan.|Department of Emergency Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Hung-Jung
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Leisure, Recreation and Tourism Management, Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Tainan, Taiwan.|Department of Occupational Medicine, Chi-Mei Medical Center, Tainan, Taiwan.|Department of Medical Research, Chi Mei Medical Center, Liouying, Tainan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Shih-Bin
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Su
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Research, Chi Mei Medical Center, Liouying, Tainan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Jhi-Joung
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.|Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, Tainan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: How-Ran
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Chi-Mei Medical Center, Yongkang District, Tainan City, 710, Taiwan. chienchenghuang@yahoo.com.tw.|Department of Occupational Medicine, Chi-Mei Medical Center, Tainan, Taiwan. chienchenghuang@yahoo.com.tw.|Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, Tainan, Taiwan. chienchenghuang@yahoo.com.tw.|Bachelor Program of Senior Service, Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Tainan, Taiwan. chienchenghuang@yahoo.com.tw.|Department of Geriatrics and Gerontology, Chi-Mei Medical Center, Tainan, Taiwan. chienchenghuang@yahoo.com.tw.
authors.forename: Chien-Cheng
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D016208:Databases, Factual; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009313:National Health Programs; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010820:Physicians; D011159:Population Surveillance; D011788:Quality of Life; D012307:Risk Factors; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology; D052878:Urolithiasis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Healthcare provider; Nurse; Pharmacist; Physician; Specialty; Urolithiasis