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Knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards prevention and early detection of chronic kidney disease
Author(s) -
Khalil A.,
Abdalrahim M.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
international nursing review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.84
H-Index - 51
eISSN - 1466-7657
pISSN - 0020-8132
DOI - 10.1111/inr.12085
Subject(s) - kidney disease , medicine , disease , public health , population , dialysis , family medicine , intervention (counseling) , intensive care medicine , nursing , environmental health
Objective To describe the knowledge, attitudes and practices of Jordanian patients with chronic illnesses towards prevention and early detection of chronic kidney disease. Background Patients with chronic illnesses such as hypertension and diabetes need to adopt healthy attitudes and practices and gain knowledge regarding prevention and early detection of kidney disease to decrease the prevalence of dialysis‐related complications and costs. Methods A total of 740 patients were recruited from out‐patients clinics in J ordan. Knowledge, attitudes and practices about kidney disease prevention and early detection were measured using the C hronic K idney D isease S creening I ndex which was developed by the researcher and tested for validity and reliability. Results The results revealed that most of the participants have knowledge about kidney disease; however, half of them had wrong information related to signs and symptoms of chronic kidney disease. The majority of the participants were not aware about the importance of discovering health problems at early stages. Conclusion and implications Improvement in population understanding about chronic kidney disease is needed to advance their awareness and practices to make appropriate decisions towards health promotion and better quality of life. Implication for policy development Nurses need to be involved in development of protocols for screening and intervention programmes, taking into consideration the cultural issues and the financial status of individuals at risk for kidney disease. Governments should adopt a public health policy for chronic kidney disease that supports programmes for screening and programmes for improving public awareness for kidney disease prevention.