Knowledge and Awareness towards Chronic Kidney Disease Risk Factors in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Background: The risk of CKD is high in Saudi Arabia due to increasingly growing prevalence of its risk factors, such as diabetes, hypertension and obesity. Therefore, the objective of this study was to assess the level of awareness of Saudi population towards CKD risk factors in order to generate platform for future planning. Methodology: This study included 940 apparently healthy Saudi volunteers, their ages ranging from 17 to 65 years old with a mean age of 35 years. A purposeful questionnaire was designed and used for obtaining data about the CKD risk factors. Results: Out of 940 participants, 293 (31.2%) were males and 647 (68.8%) were females, giving males “females” ratio of 1.00:2.21. About 62.3% of the participants were found to believe that DM is one of the main risk factors for CKD, of whom, 74% were males and 57% were females. Approximately 60% of the participants were found believing that hypertension is one of the main risk factors for CKD, of whom 79.5% were males and 51.6% were females. Conclusion: There is an increasing in the prevalence of CKD risk factors among Saudi population. Although, the levels of awareness toward some CKD risk factors are relatively increasing, but more health education efforts are deemed importance.