Physicians' knowledge and practice with regard to acute kidney injury

Physicians' knowledge and practice with regard to acute kidney injury at Omdurman Military Hospital: A cross-sectional survey: Sulafa Mohamed Ali, Safaa Badi, Bashir Alsiddig Yousef



International Journal of Health & Allied Sciences 2020 9(1):39-44



INTRODUCTION: The fact that the incidence of acute kidney injury (AKI) is increasing globally, and that data from low- and middle-income countries are scarce and inadequate, necessitates that health-care professionals being knowledgeable and aware of all aspects of this underestimated disease. This study aimed to assess the knowledge and practice of physicians working in different specialties about AKI.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study; 169 physicians from Omdurman Military Hospital, practicing in different specialties, who were available at the time of the study, were included. Participants were assessed using a self-administered questionnaire. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences.

RESULTS: The majority of the respondents were aged 29 years or less (74.1%), and 81.7% were female. Most of the respondents (63.9%) had <3 years of experience. About 62.1% of the samples were medical officers mainly from the department of emergency, internal medicine, and surgery. Nearly 56.8% of the participants were found to have moderate knowledge, whereas 23.7% had a good knowledge; there was a significant association between knowledge and professional level. Regarding AKI management practice, 56.6% of the respondents were found to have poor practice, whereas 5.7% found to conduct good practice. The practice was found to be not associated with years of experience, profession level, or specialty. There was a significant association between knowledge and practice scores (P < 0.001).

CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated knowledge and practice gaps as only one-fifth of the participants had a good knowledge and only 5% had a good practice.