association between gallstone disease and kidney stone disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background and aims: gallstone disease (gsd) and kidney stone disease (ksd) have increased due to lifestyle in recent decades. this systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to investigate the association between these two diseases.methods: a comprehensive electronic database search was conducted before august 25, 2024. this systematic review and meta-analysis included observational studies. the meta-analysis employed a random-effects model to compute the overall summary estimates of the association between gsd and ksd using risk ratios with 95% confidence intervals (cis) as the primary measure of the effect size. heterogeneity was evaluated using chi-square tests, the i² statistic, and forest plots. publication bias was assessed through begg’s and egger’s tests. a p value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant, and all analyses were performed using stata 17 software. results: the meta-analysis included 9 studies encompassing 982847 participants. the pooled analysis revealed a statistically significant association between gsd and ksd, with a risk of 1.78 (95% ci: 1.572.03, p≤0.001). begg’s and egger’s tests demonstrated no significant bias (begg’s test p=0.835, egger’s test p=0.812). variables such as study year, sample size, mean age of participants, mean follow-up, and study quality as determined by the newcastle-ottawa scale (nos) were examined, but none could significantly impact heterogeneity (p>0.10). conclusion: this systematic review and meta-analysis provide evidence of a significant association between gsd and ksd. therefore, further investigation into the underlying mechanisms and potential risk factors is necessary.