Aim: Awareness of chronic kidney disease (CKD) includes general knowledge of CKD and its risk factors. The current study aimed at assessing the public knowledge of CKD by using a validated tool. Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted. The target population of this study was lay public, and health professionals were excluded from the study. Proportional numbers of study participants were included from each sub-city based on their total population size. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 21. Frequencies, table’s percentage, mean and standard deviation were used to describe participants’ responses: Independent T-test and one way ANOVA statics was used to identify factors associated with public knowledge of CKD. Results: A total of 350 individuals were approached, 301 of whom completed and returned the questionnaire, giving a response rate of 86%. In this study, the mean (S.D.) knowledge score of participants was 11.12 (±4.21), with a minimum of 0 and a maximum of 22. Concerning the distribution of the CKD knowledge score, half of the respondents score 11 and less. One way ANOVA revealed that educational level had a significant effect on knowledge of CKD. Respondents who had an educational background of degree had relatively higher knowledge scores than the other category participants (P-value= 0.015). An independent t-test was also performed but failed to reveal any association between socio-demographic characteristics and knowledge score. Conclusions: The general knowledge level of the Ethiopian population about CKD and its risk factors is low. Currently, non-communicable disease such as diabetes and hypertension becomes public health concern and are one of the significant risk factors for CKD. As the study indicated, even these groups of populations were not adequately informed regarding their increased risk of developing CKD. Keywords: chronic kidney disease, public knowledge, Ethiopia

Henok Tegegn

and 5 more

Aims: Inappropriate polypharmacy poses adverse drug events, mortality, and high healthcare costs. Deprescribing could minimise inappropriate polypharmacy and the consequence thereof. This study aims to evaluate healthcare providers’ (HCPs) attitudes toward, and experiences with the deprescribing practice. Methods: An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted among HCPs at the University of Gondar Referral Hospital, Ethiopia. Perception of HCPs on deprescribing was measured by Linsky et al. validated tool. This tool has five dimensions that could affect HCPs’ decision to discontinue medications intentionally. One-way ANOVA was used to test the association between socio-demographic variables and their perception of deprescribing decisions. Results: Of 85 HCPs approached, about 82 HCPs with a 96.5% response rate were included in the final analysis of this study. Most HCPs (87%) were less likely or not at all to be affected by a strong relationship between HCPs and their patients to make a deprescribing decision. However, HCPs believed that formal education, significant physical health conditions, objective response to the clinical endpoint of the medication (e.g., blood pressure), and on-the-job experience profoundly influenced them to decide on deprescribing. According to the post-hoc analysis of one-way ANOVA, clinical pharmacists seemed to have a better attitude toward deprescribing decisions compared to physicians. (p = 0.025). Conclusion: HCPs’ decision to discontinue a medication could be multifactorial, and HCPs could be influenced by education level and their experience to discontinue a medication intentionally. A therapy-specific deprescribing algorithm, multidisciplinary collaboration, and continuous education development should be instituted to guide HCPs in the deprescribing decision process.