Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Associated with Chronic Kidney Disease in Northern Tanzania: A Community-Based Study

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are a leading cause of death among adults in sub-Saharan Africa, and chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a growing public health threat. Understanding knowledge, attitudes, and practices associated with NCDs is vital to informing optimal policy and public health response...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2016-06, Vol.11 (6), p.e0156336-e0156336
Main Authors: Stanifer, John W, Turner, Elizabeth L, Egger, Joseph R, Thielman, Nathan, Karia, Francis, Maro, Venance, Kilonzo, Kajiru, Patel, Uptal D, Yeates, Karen
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Adults
African languages
African literature
Attitudes
Biology and Life Sciences
Blood pressure
Chronic illnesses
Chronic kidney failure
Community
Cross-Sectional Studies
Demographic aspects
Diabetes
Diabetes mellitus
Disease control
Epidemiology
Etiology
Female
Health aspects
Health attitudes
Health care
Health education
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
Health risks
Herbal medicine
HIV
Households
Human immunodeficiency virus
Humans
Hypertension
Impact analysis
Kidney diseases
Knowledge
Knowledge base
Male
Medical treatment
Medicine and Health Sciences
Medicine, Traditional
Middle Aged
Nephrology
People and Places
Public health
Renal Insufficiency, Chronic - epidemiology
Renal Insufficiency, Chronic - prevention & control
Risk factors
Rural areas
Rural communities
Rural Population - statistics & numerical data
Social aspects
Social impact
Surveys and Questionnaires
Systematic review
Tanzania - epidemiology
Urban Population - statistics & numerical data
Viruses
Young Adult
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Summary:Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are a leading cause of death among adults in sub-Saharan Africa, and chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a growing public health threat. Understanding knowledge, attitudes, and practices associated with NCDs is vital to informing optimal policy and public health responses in the region, but few community-based assessments have been performed for CKD. To address this gap, we conducted a cross-sectional survey of adults in northern Tanzania using a validated instrument. Between January and June 2014, we administered a structured survey to a random sample of adults from urban and rural communities. The validated instrument consisted of 25 items designed to measure knowledge, attitudes, and practices associated with kidney disease. Participants were also screened for CKD, diabetes, hypertension, and human immunodeficiency virus. We enrolled 606 participants from 431 urban and rural households. Knowledge of the etiologies, symptoms, and treatments for kidney disease was low (mean score 3.28 out of 10; 95% CI 2.94, 3.63). There were no significant differences by CKD status. Living in an urban setting and level of education had the strongest independent associations with knowledge score. Attitudes were characterized by frequent concern about the health (27.3%; 20.2, 36.0%), economic (73.1%; 68.2, 77.5%), and social impact (25.4%; 18.6, 33.6%) of kidney disease. Practices included the use of traditional healers (15.2%; 9.1, 24.5%) and traditional medicines (33.8%; 25.0, 43.9%) for treatment of kidney disease as well as a willingness to engage with mobile-phone technology in CKD care (94.3%; 90.1, 96.8%). Community-based adults in northern Tanzania have limited knowledge of kidney disease. However, there is a modest knowledge base upon which to build public health programs to expand awareness and understanding of CKD, but these programs must also consider the variety of means by which adults in this population meet their healthcare needs. Finally, our assessment of local attitudes suggested that such public health efforts would be well-received.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0156336