Investigation of Risk Factors and Prevalence of Men Among Brick Makers | Collaboration Between UNAN- León and BUSPH Team: 2016-2019

Four medical students (Lyanne Gallo, Ana García, Mauricio Sánchez and Tania Gámez) at the Medical School of UNAN-León under the guidance of Dr. Aurora Aragón and Dr. Marvin Gonzalez initiated this study. This investigation built on their previous work studying chronic kidney disease (CKD) among workers in the Nicaraguan artisanal brick industry. The BUSPH team contributed to this effort by assisting with the study design and specific aims, development of the field protocol and questionnaires, fieldwork, and data analyses. The objectives of this study included determining the prevalence of CKD among brick workers in a community in Western Nicaragua, identifying the association between risk factors and changes in kidney function among brick workers through testing uric acid and measuring heat stress, and determining whether risk factors and kidney function differed by job task. A manuscript describing the study and our findings in greater detail was accepted for publication January 30, 2019: Prevalence and Risk Factors for CKD Among Brickmaking Workers in La Paz Centro, Nicaragua (see link to publication, below).

Funding: The funds for this study were provided by the Azucareros del Istmo Centroamericano (AICA), an association of sugar producers in Central America. The CDC Foundation served as the central administrative and coordinating lead, receiving funds from the donor (AICA) and distributing funds to the institutions involved in conducting the research, both Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) and UNAN-Leon. The funders had no role in study design; collection, analysis, interpretation of data; writing the report; or the decision to submit the report for publication. BU SPH and UNAN-Leon investigators were free to publish all findings.

Publications: Gallo-Ruiz L, Sennett CM, Sánchez-Delgado M, García-Urbina A, Gámez-Altamirano T, Basra K, Laws LL, Amador JJ, Lopez-Pilarte D, Tripodis Y, Brooks DR, McClean MD, Kupferman J, Friedman D, Aragón A, González-Quiroz M, & Scammell MK (2019). Prevalence and Risk Factors for CKD Among Brickmaking Workers in La Paz Centro, Nicaragua. American Journal of Kidney Diseases : The Official Journal of the National Kidney Foundation.