Awareness of chronic kidney disease and its risk factors in the former Soviet Union countries

Purpose: Assessment of public knowledge of chronic kidney disease (CKD) is an essential step in development of CKD prevention and screening programs. Our aim was to estimate the level of public CKD knowledge and its predictors in the former Soviet Union countries using a validated questionnaire. Materials and methods: This cross-sectional survey was conducted in 10 countries using an adapted validated online questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were used to describe participants’ characteristics and assess public CKD knowledge level. A multiple linear regression analysis was performed to identify predictors of CKD knowledge. Results: 2,715 participants satisfied the inclusion criteria. Respondents having higher level of education, living in countries belonging to the lower middle-income countries, having a personal history of diabetes and hypertension, and having a family history of kidney disease showed significantly better CKD knowledge. Conclusions: The level of CKD knowledge among the population of post-Soviet states was found to be low, although some personal characteristics were associated with better CKD knowledge.