Compliance of the recurrent renal stone former with current best practice guidelines

Introduction: Patient compliance to best practice guidelines is a significant factor in preventing renal stone recurrence. While patient compliance has been historically poor, there remains a paucity of data in the renal stone setting. We evaluated compliance of the recurrent renal stone former with current Canadian Urological Association (CUA) best practice guidelines. Methods: A prospective, cross-sectional study design was used to evaluate patient compliance. Recurrent renal stone former patients were consecutively recruited from McMaster's Institute of Urology and completed a one-time questionnaire developed in accordance with CUA best practice guidelines. Questionnaire sections included: 1) demographics; 2) interaction(s) and satisfaction with their healthcare provider; and 3) knowledge, attitudes, and compliance with best practices. Results: A total of 300 patients were enrolled in the study; 55.3% were men, 69.5% had a history of stone surgery, while 23.7% had a positive family history. Participants perceived satisfactory education from their urologist and primary care physician 82.7% and 59.7% of the time, respectively (p<0.05). Nearly a quarter of patients (22.8%) perceived their stone disease to be severe and 67.1% of patients believed in the efficacy of preventative stone measures. Overall, 45.8% of patients were compliant with CUA best practice guidelines. The majority of patients (72.6%) complied with high fluid intake, the most critical stone preventative practice. Conclusions: Consistent with previous studies, compliance to dietary recommendations in this evaluation of recurrent stone formers was low. Study findings may be attributed to insufficient knowledge translation, lack of perceived disease severity, and/or patient uncertainty in the importance of preventative stone practices.