Men are at a higher risk for kidney stones than women, but trend is changing
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Compared with women, men are more at risk for developing kidney stones, but recently presented data show this gap may be closing, according to a speaker at ASN Kidney Week.
“[Research] shows that the prevalence of kidney stone disease in the general population is growing over time. This gap also shows an established epidemiological characteristic of kidney stone disease, namely that men are more affected than women. However, more recent data show a trend toward the reduction in this gap,” Pietro Manuel Ferraro, MD, MSc, PhD, assistant professor at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan, said in a presentation. “The reasons for the higher prevalence among men, as well as for the recent reduction in [this] gap, are still not well understood.”
Ferraro and colleagues evaluated the correlation between sex and incident kidney stones using data from three large cohorts (the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study, Nurses’ Health Study I and Nurses’ Health Study II), resulting in a total of 268,553 patients.
“The main objectives of our study were to estimate the age-adjusted excess risk of kidney stones among men, to evaluate trends over age and calendar time, and to explore the proportion of excess risk among men explained by non-urinary and urinary risk factors,” Ferraro said.
Age-adjusted Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to compute kidney stone incidence rates for men and women. Using mediation analysis, researchers estimated the total of excess risk for men explained by established risk factors, such as waist circumference, history of high blood pressure, history of diabetes, use of thiazides and dietary intake. Researchers also assessed 24-hour urine composition.
Results revealed the incidence rate of kidney stones was 271 and 159 per 100,000 person-years for men and women, respectively. While the risk of stones was higher across categories of age among men compared with women (HRs ranging from 2.02 to 2.76), the risk declined throughout the calendar year for men while inclining among women. Additionally, supersaturations for calcium oxalate and uric acid were higher among men, which led to increased risk of kidney stones.
“Sex plays a role in the development of kidney stones. Certain factors explain at least part of the higher risk of stones among men,” Ferraro said in the press release.
“Our study also confirms that the gap between men and women in terms of risk of stones is getting smaller,” senior author of the study Gary C. Curhan, MD, ScD, said in the release.
References:
New insights on sex differences in kidney stone risk. https://www.newswise.com/articles/new-insights-on-sex-differences-in-kidney-stone-risk?sc=mwhr&xy=10007438. Published Nov. 3, 2021. Accessed Nov. 10, 2021.
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Ferraro PM, et al. Paper TH-OR30. Presented at: ASN Kidney Week; Nov. 4-7, 2021 (virtual meeting).
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