Student, 3rd Professional MBBS (Part II), Department of Community Medicine, Bankura Sammilani Medical College, Bankura, West Bengal, India.
Assistant Professor, Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
Indian J Public Health. 2023 Apr-Jun;67(2):208-214. doi: 10.4103/ijph.ijph_768_23.
Chronic kidney disease of unknown etiology (CKDu) has been a growing concern in the Indian population causing significant morbidity and mortality in these recent years. Thus, it is vital to understand the probable risk factors associated with its manifestation. This study aims to assess the distribution of various etiologies among CKD patients, investigate all the probable risk factors associated with CKDu, and estimate the health-related quality of life (QoL) among all CKDu patients in the study area.
It was an analytical, observational, cross-sectional study where one objective had a case-control study design. It was conducted at Bankura Sammilani Medical College in Bankura district, West Bengal, during July 2022-August 2022. A total of 198 patients have been studied through detailed interviews using a predesigned, pretested, semi-structured schedule. Potential risk factors and their strength of association were analyzed with the help of multivariate logistic regression.
It was found that the prevalence of CKDu was almost 71% in the study population, mostly affecting agricultural workers (67.17%), daily laborers (46.46%), and construction workers. Perceived heat stress, excessive daily dietary intake of salt, and drinking contaminated water are the factors that had shown the strongest association with the occurrence of CKDu in this population. The deterioration in QoL in CKDu pretty much mirrors that of CKD.
CKDu is definitely an occupational disease, mostly affecting the wage workers and farmers spending long hours in unhealthy work environments. Environmental exposure to heavy metals must be checked and dietary modification must be done through counseling to regulate salt intake. CKDu, as a rising public health concern certainly needs special attention and immediate planning as it has a different etiopathology than CKD and the affected population, disease progression, and risk factors are markedly distinctive as well.
病因不明的慢性肾病（CKDu）在印度人群中日益受到关注，近年来导致了相当高的发病率和死亡率。因此，了解其发病的可能危险因素至关重要。本研究旨在评估 CKD 患者的各种病因分布，调查与 CKDu 相关的所有可能危险因素，并估计研究区域内所有 CKDu 患者的健康相关生活质量（QoL）。
这是一项分析性、观察性、横断面研究，其中一个目标采用病例对照研究设计。该研究于 2022 年 7 月至 8 月在西孟加拉邦班库拉的班库拉萨米利安尼医学院进行。通过详细访谈，使用预先设计、预测试、半结构化时间表，对 198 名患者进行了研究。利用多变量逻辑回归分析潜在的危险因素及其关联强度。
研究发现，CKDu 在研究人群中的患病率几乎为 71%，主要影响农业工人（67.17%）、日工（46.46%）和建筑工人。感知热应激、每日饮食中摄入过多的盐以及饮用受污染的水是与该人群中 CKDu 发生最密切相关的因素。CKDu 患者的生活质量恶化与 CKD 患者非常相似。
CKDu 肯定是一种职业病，主要影响在不健康工作环境中长时间工作的体力劳动者和农民。必须检查环境中重金属的暴露情况，并通过咨询进行饮食调整，以控制盐的摄入量。CKDu 作为一个日益引起公众关注的健康问题，肯定需要特别关注和立即规划，因为它的病因学与 CKD 不同，受影响的人群、疾病进展和危险因素也明显不同。
