KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PRACTICES OF THE RISK FOR CHRONIC KIDNEY DISEASE AMONG PATIENTS IN A TERTIARY TEACHING HOSPITAL

Abstract

Patients with chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular diseases are known as high-risk groups for developing chronic kidney disease (CKD). Adequate related knowledge among them helps to increase their awareness towards CKD and adapt healthy attitude and practices for CKD prevention, which will result in better health outcomes. This study aimed to identify the patients' knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) towards the risks for CKD. This cross-sectional study used a selfadministered survey questionnaire on 103 adult male and female patients at four general surgical and medical wards in a teaching hospital using convenient sampling method. The data were computed using STATA version 12. Data on KAP were obtained through the Chronic Kidney Disease Screening Index questionnaire. The majority of respondents had poor knowledge (69.9%, n=72), but most of them had good attitude (68.9%, n=71) and good practices (88.3%, n=91) towards the risk of CKD. Signicant associations were indicated between education level, occupation and monthly family income with knowledge (p-value <0.05). Signicant associations were also indicated between age, sex, marital status and occupation with their attitude (p-value < 0.05). Meanwhile, marital status was found to be signicantly associated with the practices towards the risk for CKD (p-value=0.008).
Poor knowledge on the risk of getting CKD among hospitalized adults in this study implied the need for improvement in the public understanding towards the risk for CKD.