Assessment of Knowledge and Lifestyle for Renal Stone Patients Undergoing Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy

Background: Renal stone disease is the third most prevalent urological disease; it affects the quality of life and causes an economic burden globally. Lifestyle modification is the initial step in prevention, treatment of renal stones and enhancing the effectiveness of stone removal after extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy procedure among adult population. Aim of the study: To assess knowledge and lifestyle for renal stone patients undergoing extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy. Research design: the study adopted a descriptive research design. Subjects: A convenient sample of 60 patients suffering from renal stones and undergoing ESWL procedure. Setting: The research was conducted at Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy (ESWL) unit in South Valley University- affiliated hospital. Tools: Two tools were employed to gather data, First Tool: A structured interview questionnaire sheet, was organized into two distinct parts; socio demographic, clinical data and knowledge assessment questionnaire sheet Second Tool: Healthy lifestyle practices assessment sheet.Results: Most of participants were male, their ages fell within the range of 20 to 36 years, married and came from rural areas (60.0%, 75.0%, 75.0 and 78.3 % respectively). The findings indicated low overall knowledge scores and unsatisfactory lifestyle behaviors.Conclusion: Patients had an unsatisfactory level of knowledge pertaining to nephrolithiasis, ESWL procedure and they were following poor lifestyle behaviors.Recommendation: education for renal stone patients is essential to reach an adequate level of knowledge and enhance their lifestyle habits. It is strongly advised to replicate this study using a larger probabilistic sample.