P1863knowledge About Chronic Kidney Disease and the Ways of Prevention: A Population-Based Study in Northeast Brazil

Abstract

Background and Aims The incidence and prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) is increasing worldwide, and health literacy is an important goal of any program of health care. The aim of this study is to investigate the knowledge of the population in Brazil about CKD and the ways of prevention, as well as the use of novel technologies to achieve knowledge and get awareness on CKD. Method This is a population-based study conducted in two large urban centers in Northeast Brazil (Fortaleza city, Ceara, and Maceio city, Alagoas). We have applied a questionnaire with questions regarding the knowledge about CKD, its preventive measures, causes, and ways of diagnose (for example, what is “creatinine”?). We have also investigated the use of novel technologies, focused on applications (apps) to achieve information related to health (if the interviewed) already uses to get health information through apps and if they would like to. Sociodemographic information was also collected. Exclusion criteria were: people from the healthcare sector (because they would already have specialized knowledge about CKD, and we aimed to know what the general population know about CKD), people with CKD, other kidney diseases or medical conditions that could lead to the knowledge about CKD. Results A total of 1,147 individuals were interviewed, with a mean age of 38.7±16.0 years, and 621 (54.1%) were female. Regarding the questions about the knowledge about CKD (“Do you know what is chronic kidney disease?”), 442 (38.5%) was found to answer yes. When asked if they know what is creatinine, only 176 (15.3%) said yes. In relation to the risk factors for CKD, 466 (40.6%) answered to know which factors were associated with increased risk for CKD, and 587 (51.1%) said to know how to prevent CKD. Another question was about the use of applications (app) to healthcare, and 358 individuals (31.2%) said to use some type of app to take care of their health. We have also questioned if the interviewed would use applications to get information regarding CKD, and 773 (67.3%) said yes, they would like to. Conclusion CKD is a Public Health problem in Brazil, with huge costs to the health system. Prevention is the key determinant to decrease the disease burden to everyone, people, society and healthcare players. Awareness of CKD seem to be slowly increasing in our country, once a significant percentage of interviewed said to know the ways of prevention, but it is still far from ideal. Technology seem to be an interesting solution to achieve our goals in terms of prevention and treatment of CKD.

Awareness of Chronic Kidney Disease, Medication, and Laboratory Investigation among Nephrology and Urology Patients of Quetta, Pakistan

“…In addition, they were not aware of the symptoms that may appear due to worsening of the disease and when to seek help from HCPs. Our study is in agreement with previous studies conducted in the United States [37][38][39], Australia [29], Brazil [40], Hong Kong [41], Ethiopia [42,43], Nigeria [44,45], Tanzania [46], Singapore [47], Iran [48], and India [49]. The summary of the main findings of the above few studies are listed in Table 7.…”