Objective
To examine the association of kidney stones with new‐onset hypertension, diabetes and obesity.
Participants and Methods
This prospective cohort study included participants in the Qingdao Port Cardiovascular Health Study who were aged ≥18 years and had abdominal ultrasonography results in 2013 that were negative for kidney stones. Multivariable Cox regression models with time‐dependent covariates were used to estimate the effects of new‐onset hypertension, diabetes and obesity on the incidence of kidney stones.
Results
There were 9667 participants without kidney stones in 2013 (mean age 46.2 years; 75.6% men). During a mean (range) follow‐up of 33.5 (6–42) months, 676 (7.0%) incident cases of kidney stones were identified. Kidney stones were more frequent among those who had new‐onset of a metabolic factor vs those who did not (hypertension: 7.7 vs 6.0%; diabetes: 8.4 vs 6.6%; obesity: 7.4 vs 6.8%). Adjusted Cox models identified that increased risk of kidney stones was associated with new‐onset hypertension (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 1.69, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.25–2.27), new‐onset diabetes (HR 1.78, 95% CI 1.07–2.96), and new‐onset obesity (HR 1.78, 95% CI 1.15–2.74).
Conclusions
New‐onset of hypertension, diabetes and obesity were all strongly associated with an increased risk of kidney stones in this prospective cohort study. Results suggest that a substantial proportion of kidney stones are potentially preventable by appropriate control of these metabolic risk factors.