Impact of an interactive dietary management program on nephrolithiasis patients in Taiwan

The goal of the current study was to test the attitudes and knowledge of kidney stone patients before and after a nutritional educational intervention. Participants’ dietary practices were also surveyed. Patients who visited clinics at Taipei Medical University-Wan Fang Hospital in 2015 for kidney stones were recruited in a dietary management program based on a dietary approach to stop hypertension (DASH) style diet. The questionnaire was developed with 20 dichotomous questions measuring knowledge and attitudes and 6 questions for practices on a 5-point scale. The knowledge and attitude sections were administered before and after the program, with the practice section set as a pre-intervention test. A total of 51 subjects completed the study. The average scores of knowledge increased from 3.7 ± 2.4 to 7.2 ± 2.37 (p-value < 0.05) post-intervention, and attitude scores also extensively enhanced from 38.3 ± 4.61 to 40.7 ± 3.40 (p-value < 0.05). Moreover, the practice score was more closely associated with the knowledge score than it was with the attitude score. The current dietary management program based on concepts of a DASH-style diet for nephrolithiasis patients positively impacted patients’ knowledge and attitudes.