Screening for kidney disease in an oil producing community in Nigeria: A pilot study

Petroleum products have been associated with acute and chronic kidney disease. Nigeria is a major oil producing and exporting country. The aim of this study was to screen for kidney disease in an oil producing community in Nigeria. This was a cross-sectional study carried out in Ido, Asari-Toru Local Government Area of Rivers State. All subjects were resident in the town and those aged 18 years and above were eligible. Spot urine samples were collected for dipstick urinalysis, and venous blood was collected for estimation of serum electrolyte, urea, creatinine, and lipid profile. The estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was calculated using the Cockcroft and Gault formula. A total of 99 participants were screened: 75% were females, over 50% aged above 50 years, and the majority had low socioeconomic status. The mean eGFR of the participants was 80.2 ± 33.3 mL/min/1.73 m 2 , 32.6% of the participants had eGFR <60 mL/min, and 2% had eGFR <30 mL/min. Furthermore, 36.5% of the participants had proteinuria and 29.8% had 1 + proteinuria. There was a significant negative correlation of eGFR with a family history of diabetes mellitus (-0.35, P = 0.016), elevated systolic hypertension (-0.29, P = 0.035), and elevated total cholesterol (-0.23, P = 0.045), but there was a positive correlation with body mass index (0.24, P = 0.018). We conclude that the prevalence of kidney disease was high in the screened population in a Nigerian oil producing community.