Level of health awareness of Saudi patients on renal replacement therapy

OBJECTIVE: To assess health awareness in patients on renal replacement therapy (RRT) in Saudi Arabia.

METHODS: This is a cross-sectional survey using a 22-item questionnaire in 143 randomly selected adult RRT patients [40 on hemodialysis (HD), 61 on peritoneal dialysis (PD) and 42 with renal transplant (TX)]. The study was carried out at King Abdul-Aziz Medical City, Riyadh in April 2006. The questionnaire was designed to evaluate patients' knowledge in 5 areas: 1. causes of renal failure, 2. biology of the kidneys, 3. symptoms of kidney disease, 4. therapeutic options available, 5. national kidney patients support facilities. The association between the level of awareness (the percentage of correct answers) to different demographic factors was assessed.

RESULTS: Three fifths of the patients had less than secondary education. The average mark for correct responses of all patients was 45.9% with a highest (58%) for the category on biology of the kidney and lowest (36.8%) for national kidney patients support facilities. The PD group had the highest score (54.4%) followed by HD (44.3%) and finally TX (35.1%).

CONCLUSION: The level of our patients health awareness is lower than satisfactory. Level of education seems to be a contributory factor.