KIDNEY KNOWLEDGE AMONG USERS OF AN ONLINE SELF MANAGEMENT PLATFORM FOR PEOPLE WITH CKD

Abstract Background and Aims Renal Tracker is a blended on- and offline self management platform for people with CKD. One of the goals of the program is to increase user’s knowledge about their kidney disease in order to facilitate communication with their health care providers. In the present study we aim to a baseline data for kidney knowledge to which the program could be compared. Method We recruited a cohort of 74 users from the United States of America via social media channels, including Facebook, Pinterest and Google Adwords. The users were offered a 12 week online course program in addition to a 1-on-1 call with a health coach specialized in renal nutrition. Before starting the program users were prompted to complete the Kidney Knowledge Survey (Wright et al AJKD 2011). We compared our results to those in the study by Wright. Pseudonymized data for users was obtained from the RenalTracker analytics server, and analyses were performed using Python 3.8.5 with a JupyterLab 2.2.28 shell. Results The mean overall score for our cohort was 18.8 (SD 4.0) for a 67% (SD 14%) correct. By comparison, Wright reported a mean score of 66% (15%). Users found the question about what medication to avoid hardest (26% correct). In addition, users were only able to identify half of the usual symptoms associated with kidney disease. Likewise, they were able to point out about only half of the functions of the kidney. Conversely, 88% knew their target blood pressure, possible long term consequences of CKD. Conclusion Our results highlight that even among a subgroup of patients actively researching and looking for information, kidney specific health knowledge needs to be improved. In particular limited knowledge about nephrotoxic drugs is worrying.