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Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is commonly asymptomatic and its diagnosis depends on laboratory tests, especially serum creatinine and proteinuria. In Brazil, in 2021, the Brazilian Society of Nephrology (SBN) reported that 148,363 patients were on dialysis, giving an idea of the impact of advanced CKD. One key strategy for CKD prevention campaigns globally, including Brazil, is raising public awareness about the disease and early diagnosis. Assessing the population's knowledge of this vital diagnostic marker is crucial to evaluate campaign effectiveness and plan future communication efforts on prevention. The aimed of this study was to establish how well known the "creatinine" test is among the adult Brazilian population.
This cross-sectional observational study was conducted in the city of São Paulo (SP, Brazil) and involved interviews with a random adult population. People were given a form with questions relating to demographic data, comorbidities and issues involved with medical examinations and visits.
A total of 1138 individuals were interviewed, with a median age of 36 years (27-52); 55.1% were female. Concerning the marker "creatinine," 40.6% reported never having undergone such test. When asked about their knowledge regarding the usefulness of this test, only 19.6% knew its function (to asses kidney function). Other responses included "I don't know" (71.6%), assess heart function (0.9%) and liver function (7.8%). Among those who claimed to have undergone the creatinine test, only 29.4% correctly identified its function. When dividing the groups into "right" and "wrong" the question about the function of creatinine, statistically significant differences were observed (p<0.05) concerning education level, female gender, being a student/healthcare worker, having had creatinine measured at some point, knowing someone with kidney disease, and older age. In the multivariate analysis, the primary variable associated with knowing the function of creatinine was having undergone the test previously (OR 5.16; 95% CI 3.16 - 8.43, P<0.001).
There is significant lack of awareness about creatinine and its use in check-ups among people in Brazil. The results indicate the need for greater efforts by healthcare professionals to disseminate the role of serum creatinine. This abstract was presented at the Congresso Paulista de Nefrologia held in 2023 (Atibaia, São Paulo, Brazil). The event organizers permit resubmission of abstracts.