Chronic Kidney Disease: Early Education Intervention

Background: Chronic kidney disease is a public health problem worldwide. Awareness of chronic kidney disease among patients is low. Providing early education will empower the patient with tools, resources, and knowledge to self-manage the disease.
Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine if providing early self-management education will improve the awareness of chronic kidney disease and increase knowledge regarding the disease process in the primary care setting.
Design: A quasi-experimental study was conducted with pre-post comparison using a survey of kidney disease knowledge. The National Kidney Foundation: Take the Kidney Quiz.
Methods: A pre and post patient/caregiver knowledge survey was conducted in a primary care nephrology clinic at an academic medical center in the South Eastern United States to evaluate knowledge gains following an educational intervention during the clinic appointment for patients diagnosed with chronic kidney disease stages 1-4 and their care partners. The knowledge survey tool was administered to 25 individuals. A paired t-test was used to compare the pre-intervention and post-intervention knowledge survey scores.
Results: A statistically significant improvement was found between pre and post scores (t= 5.192, df= 24, p= .001) on the test scores following participation in the educational intervention session.