Betel nut chewing and the risk of chronic kidney disease: evidence from a meta-analysis.

PURPOSE: To investigate and quantify the potential association between betel nut chewing and the risk of chronic kidney disease (CKD).

METHODS: We searched five online databases including PubMed, EMBASE, ISI Web of Science, Wanfang and CNKI to identify observational studies that published prior to May, 1, 2017. The primary outcome was the association between betel nut chewing and CKD expressed as odds ratio (OR) and the corresponding 95% confidence interval (95%CI) after adjustment for other covariates. Meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.3 software; the leave-one-out sensitivity analysis was used to confirm the stability of drawn conclusion.

RESULTS: Five studies comprising a total of 10,562 CKD patients and 34,038 subjects without CKD that analyzed the relationship between betel nut chewing and CKD were included in our study; all the included studies were performed in Taiwan. After the adjustment for covariates, the combined adjusted ORs showed that betel nut used had 1.44 times higher risk to develop CKD compared with non-chewers (OR 1.44, 95%CI 1.08-1.92).

CONCLUSIONS: Betel nut chewing could significantly increase the risk of CKD, indicating that betel nut chewing may exist as an independent risk factor for CKD. Further investigation should be warranted.