Identification of Social and Occupational Risk Factors Associated with CKDu Patients in an Agricultural Community in Kebithigollewa, Sri Lanka

Abstract

Aim: To identify the social and occupational risk factors associated with CKDu patients living in an agricultural community in Kebithigollewa, Sri Lanka.Methods: A three months community based cross sectional study was done involving 30 CKDu diagnosed patients who were attending the CKDu Ayurvedic Clinic at Kebithigollewa, North Central Province (NCP), Sri Lanka and 30 controls were taken from the same region. Socioeconomic and socio-demographic data was collected from the participants with the use of an interview administered questionnaire. Heights and weights were the anthropometric data measured for the study. Blood samples were collected as biochemical data which was later analysed using an automated blood analyser. Data collected was computerized and analysed using software Graphpad Prism 8 and SPSS version 20.Results: All the participants of the research were active residents living in the North Central Province (NCP) since birth. 83.34% of the CKDu affected individuals were from the 4th to 7th decade of life and 70% of them were males. 86.66% of the affected population carried out agricultural practices as their main source of income with chena and paddy cultivation being the common practice followed. 96.66% of the affected were from low income families who earned 0-20000 LKR per month. 40% of the affected have had only up to five years of school education. 63.33% of the CKDu patients were overweight. A significant correlation of 0.642218 was shown by Cramer’s V square test between Number of working hours/day and serum creatinine, indicating a strong association, but did not have a significant nominal logistic regression.Conclusion: Serum creatinine was high in farmers and laborers indicating that occupation impacts CKDu occurrence and progression. It was also high in age group 31-50yrs showing a significant relationship with serum creatinine which indicates the social impact on CKDu occurrence. A statistically significance of P<0.05 was shown by number of working hours and BMI.