WCE 2017: Correlation of Stress in Kidney Stone Patients with the Wisconsin Stone Quality of Life Questionnaire 

Vancouver, Canada (UroToday.com) Dr. Colin Lundeen discussed that stress might contribute to the endocrinologic causes of kidney stones and/or whether it could be a consequence of stones. The study aimed to evaluate the correlation between stress and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in patients with kidney stones.
Patients (n = 277) from three academic urology sites across North America were recruited for the study. Patients completed the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), and the Wisconsin Stone Quality of Life (WISQOL) to access stress level and HRQOL, respectively. Descriptive data showed that 80% of patients were white-non-Hispanic, 5% white Hispanic/Spanish/Latino, 11% Asian, and 4% Back/African American. 32% patients had stone composition reported, and 95% of those reports had stone containing calcium. WISQOL total and domain scores and PSS-10 scores were compared. Patients’ stone and symptom statuses were used to compare the WISQOL and PSS-10 scores.  

Data analysis showed that there was a negative correlation between quality of life and patients’ perceived stress. Analysis on domain-level showed that HRQOL scores in domain 3 (stone-related impact) had a negative correlation with perceived stress (p = 0.002). Based on WISQOL, there was significant difference of HRQOL between patients with and without stones at the time of completing the questionnaires (p < 0.0001). Both WISQOL and PSS-10 could recognize symptomatic and asymptomatic patients (p < 0.0001 and p = 0.001, respectively).

It could be concluded that WISQOL was a stone-specific quality of life measure, while PSS-10 was a non-instrumental measurement. Both questionnaires were able to distinguish symptomatic and asymptomatic patients.

Presented by: Colin Lundeen 

Authors: Colin Lundeen, Ben Chew, Thomas Chi, Stephen Nakada, Kristina Penniston 
Affiliation: Department of Urology Madison, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI

Written by: Long Hoang, Department of Urology, University of California-Irvine, 35th World Congress of Endourology– September 12-16, 2017, Vancouver, Canada.