Introduction:
The burden of CKD is said to increase at an alarming rate in the low to middle income countries especially in sub-Saharan Africa, Nigeria inclusive. This is because of the high prevalence of chronic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, high incidence of infectious diseases, exposure to toxins and genetic predisposition, all which are major risk factors for kidney disease. Also, the presence of socio-economic factors results in lack of awareness, lack of preventive strategies and limited access to health care. Assessing knowledge, attitudes and practices towards kidney diseases is an effective preventive approach that promotes awareness, positive behavioral change and enables early detection, reducing the progression of kidney disease and improving health outcomes.
Methods:
This was a community based cross sectional study using researcher administered structured questionnaire to assess the knowledge, practices, and attitudes of kidney disease in participants residing in Ugwuomo Nike, Enugu State located in the Southeastern part of Nigeria.
Ethical clearance was obtained by the researchers from the ethics committee in the Enugu state university of science and technology teaching hospital (ESUTTH) Parklane Enugu, Nigeria.
The information obtained was entered into a spread sheet and the data was analyzed using the SPSS vs 25. The responses to the questions where either yes, no or no idea.
Results:
Five hundred and five residents participated and completed the administered questionnaire. The mean age was 41±15.6. The male gender made up a higher proportion accounting for 55.6% of the total number of participants. Two hundred and nine participants had no educational background; however, most of the participants were farmers accounting for 40%.
Although all participants had heard of kidney failure primarily through media resources, 99.8% of them both lacked knowledge about the risk factors and preventive measures. Risk factors of kidney failure such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus, cigarette smoking, chronic use of pain killers and use of herbal medications were seen in 4.7%, 0.7%, 30.1%, 5.6% and 0,6% of the participants, respectively.
Conclusions:
Even though the participants had risk factors for kidney disease, most of them lacked knowledge about the risk factors and preventive measures. Therefore, it is of paramount importance to create more awareness and enlighten people, especially in the rural areas, on kidney disease, risk factors and preventative measures.
I have no potential conflict of interest to disclose.
I did not use generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process.