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According to the Brazilian Society of Nephrology, approximately ten million people in Brazil have some form of kidney dysfunction. In this context, the Ministry of Health recommends that urinary system pathologies requiring a structured clinical approach should be managed by Primary Care Physicians (PCP). The objective of this study was to assess the competence and confidence of PCP who participated in a symposium on the management of renal pathologies before and after the event.
This is a cross-sectional study conducted in March 2021, involving participants in a nephrology symposium for PCP. The symposium was structured around round-table discussion methods and brought together professionals, including nephrologists, family and community doctors, nutritionists, nurses, and dentists. Both before and after the symposium, participants were asked to complete a self-assessment form to gauge their proficiency in managing common kidney diseases in Primary Health Care (PHC). The symposium included lectures on various topics, including hematuria, proteinuria, cystic kidney lesions, and urinary tract infections.
The event had 241 registered participants, with 82.9% being healthcare professionals working in PHC. Out of these, 78 participants responded to the pre-and post-event self-assessment questionnaire. Before the symposium, 70.5% of primary care professionals stated that they felt competent in investigating and interpreting urinalysis and determining the treatment for urinary tract infections, while 64.1% claimed to know how to investigate renal function. After the event, the proportion of professionals feeling capable of handling these cases increased to over 90%. Regarding the appropriate management of conditions like hematuria, proteinuria, and the ability to consciously identify cases of nephritic syndrome, nephrotic syndrome, and rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis, only about 30% of the participants felt capable of making accurate diagnoses and providing appropriate management before the event. After the symposium, approximately 90% of these professionals reported confidence in evaluating these conditions. Furthermore, only about 10% of the professionals felt confident in conducting the workup of renal cystic lesions and patients with chronic kidney disease in a conservative stage. After the event, most of them (approximately 75%) expressed increased confidence in dealing with these renal conditions.
The increased confidence of professionals in handling renal pathologies after the symposium highlights the importance of educational activities aimed at healthcare professionals working in Primary Health Care. This way, it is possible to train and enable healthcare professionals to efficiently handle the most common renal pathologies in Primary Health Care, improving the quality of care and, consequently, enhancing public health services.