Awareness of the Risk Factors for Chronic Kidney Disease among Secondary School Students in Nigeria: Evidence from Ogun State

Abstract

There is an increasing burden of chronic kidney disease among youths in most developing countries like Nigeria where healthcare financing is poor. Therefore, there is a need to assess the level of awareness of the risk factors for chronic kidney disease. The study employed the cross-sectional study design. Random selection of 271 respondents was done and data was collected from them using questionnaire. The analysis of the data was done using the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) to generate descriptive statistics in form of frequency tables and charts. The result showed that 49.8% of the respondents were between the ages of 13 and 15 years, with a mean age of 13.51±1.385. Most of the respondents (56.8%) were females and of the Christians denomination (64.9%). Nearly all the respondents (90.4%) were from the Yoruba ethnic group. Some 60.9% of the respondents claimed to be aware of chronic kidney disease while only 44.6% had heard about the risk factors of chronic kidney disease. The mean value for the computed construct for level of awareness of risk factors of chronic kidney disease was 14.40±2.59 which is approximately 60% (not very strong) of the maximum point (using a 24-point scale). There is therefore a need for more awareness on risk factors for chronic kidney disease among adolescents in Nigeria and this can be done through the different mediums for passing health messages to the general public.