Study of Crystalluria and Associated Factors at Amirou Boubacar Diallo National Hospital

Background: Crystalluria is the intermediate stage between urinary biochemical abnormalities and stone formation, which can lead to urological and nephrological complications. Objective: To assess the frequency of crystalluria and associated factors at the Hospital National Amirou Boubacar Diallo (HNABD) in Niamey. Methodology: This was a cross-sectional, prospective, descriptive, and analytical study conducted from February 2023 to June 06, 2023. All urine samples sent to the laboratory during the study period were included. Results: A total of 404 patients’ urine samples were included and analyzed during the study period. These urine samples were predominantly from male patients (64.00%; sex ratio = 1.7). The median age of the patients was 15 years, with extremes ranging from 37 days to 89 years. High urine density and medication intake were significantly associated with crystalluria (p-value < 0.05). However, there was no statistically significant association between crystalluria, pH, and bacterial species isolated in this study. In principal component analysis, crystalluria was associated with high urine density, gender, presence of ketone bodies, use of medication, presence of cylinders, parasites, urobilinogen, yeast and history of urinary lithiasis, but in multivariate logistic analysis, no risk factors for crystalluria were found. Conclusion: The frequency of crystalluria at the Hospital National Amirou Boubacar Diallo was relatively low. No risk factors for crystalluria were found in the multivariate logistic analysis. Further studies taking into account patients’ clinical characteristics and crystalluria are needed to complete this study.