Knowledge and Risk Perception of Kidney Disease among Childbearing Women in Lagos State, Nigeria

Abstract

BackgroundIn spite of kidney disease (KD) as one of the eight leading causes of death in women and a chronic public health concern, little is known about women’s knowledge and risk perception of KD. We assessed knowledge and perception of KD risk among childbearing women in Lagos State, Nigeria.MethodsAdministering a pre-tested, structured questionnaire among 825 women aged 15-49 years, we conducted a cross-sectional descriptive study to evaluate self-reported KD knowledge and risk perception among women of childbearing age in urban and semi-urban communities in Lagos State, Nigeria. We employed binary and multinomial logistic regression to assess KD knowledge and risk perception. We used descriptive statistics (mean, frequencies and percentages) to assess socio-demographic factors influencing knowledge and risk perception of KD risk factors.ResultsFour hundred and forty-four (53.8%) out of 825 individuals reported being knowledgeable of KD with significant proportion found in the younger adults’ age group (15-29 years), with mean age of 33.5±11.5 years. High prevalence of self-reported KD risk factors were pica craving, poor diets (junk foods and high in salt), hypertension and urinary tract infection. Multivariate analysis confirmed that the following factors increased the likelihood of knowledge and risk perception of KD: high education, high income and family history of KD. Perception of KD risk at age 40-49 years (OR = 1.22, CI= 1.02-1.63, p = 0.00) and diabetes (OR = 1.40, CI= 1.59-1.18, p = 0.00) were significantly perceived as predictors of an increased risk for KD development.ConclusionOur study reveals high knowledge of KD but low perception of KD risk factors and its ailments. In view of this, this calls for urgent measures to create sensitization and provide public KD behavioural health interventions as well as easy communication strategies for women to secure better access to pre- and post-natal healthcare services.

Studying Mothers' Knowledge and Perceptions of Adolescent Reproductive Health

“…However, parents who do not provide their children with explanations about reproductive health issues can limit access to information for adolescents. This lack of supervision leads them to seek information from various sources on social media without guidance from parents or teachers, leading to inaccurate information and potential harm (Akokuwebe & Afolabi, 2015).…”