Survey on knowledge, attitudes and practices on urinary tract stones among patients present at tertiary care unit in Sri Lanka

Urinary tract stones affect up to 2-5% of the Asian population and up to 15 % of the population in western countries. The epidemiology of Urolithiasis differs according to the geographical area in terms of prevalence, incidence, age and sex distribution, stone composition and stone location. Urolithiasis is twice as common in males compared to females. This was a descriptive cross sectional study. In this study, main objective was to determine knowledge, attitude and practices on Urolithiasis among patients who presented to the Out Patient Department (OPD) of the Teaching Hospital Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. A selfadministered questionnaire was distributed among 290 consenting patients selected using systematic random sampling. Patients’ demographic data, knowledge on risk factors and symptoms, attitudes and their practices with regard to prevention were assessed. Out of 290 patients 66.9% were females and 33.1% were males. Of them 26 (9%) had a history of stone disease. Their mean knowledge score was 9.03± 2.14 out of 22 (41.06%). Results showed that participants who had a history of stone disease have better attitudes than those who did not have stones. Of them, participants who had a history of stone disease have better practice (45.19%) than others who did not have stones (39.02%). This study reveals that participants who had a history of stone have better knowledge and practice on Urolithiasis. However, overall awareness on knowledge and practices are poor. It is generally lower than the other parts of the world. Therefore, there is a need for the implementation of awareness program on Urolithiasis for general population in Sri Lanka.