Pattern of herbal and dietary supplement usage and conventional medication adherence among patients with chronic kidney disease: a survey finding

Introduction: There is widespread use of herbal and dietary supplements worldwide among patients despite robust clinical evidence of its efficacy. This may lead to adverse effects, such as diabetes,hypertension, stroke, cardiovascular risk and kidney problems due to inappropriate self-prescription. This study was performed to determine the prevalence of herbal and dietary supplements usage among patients with chronic kidney disease and its association with the socio-demographic background and the conventional medication adherence. Materials and methods: A survey was conducted among 78 chronic kidney disease patients attending the Nephrology Clinic, Hospital Tengku Ampuan Afzan, Kuantan, Pahang. Data were collected using a questionnaire and analyzed using descriptive statistics, Chi Square Test and Fisher’s Exact Test. The p-value was set to be less 0.05 for its level of significance. Results: Most of the patients aged more than 50 years (89.7%), female (53.8%), unemployed (41%) and from lower socioeconomic earners (75.6%). Only 5.2% of respondents reported using herbal and dietary supplements. There was no association between socio-demographic background with the herbal and dietary supplements usage. Similarly, there was no association between herbal and dietary supplements usage and the conventional medication adherence. Conclusion: This study provides a good baseline on the usage of herbal and dietary supplements use among chronic disease patients. It can be concluded that the level of awareness among the patients is good. Nevertheless, a larger study shall be performed in the future to explore the pattern of association

Knowledge and awareness about chronic kidney disease among undergraduate students in International Islamic University Malaysia Kuantan Campus

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) causes 70% of all death globally. The prevalence of CKD has shown an increasing trend for the past 20 years in Malaysia. Thus, determining the knowledge and awareness of CKD among healthcare students in preparing them to be a good healthcare provider in the future is important. This study aimed to determine the association between knowledge and awareness about CKD among International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) undergraduate students. A crosssectional study was conducted among 108 students using simple random sampling method. The questionnaire was given to the class representative to be self-administered to interested students. It had close-ended questions consisting of Part A to Part D. The scoring given for correctly answered items was one and the total score for Part C was 7 marks. Most of the students were female (70.4%). The mean knowledge score of CKD was 3.65 (SD = 1.12) with nearly half of the students (43.5%) classified as having poor knowledge. Most respondents were aware about CKD (99.1%) and have heard about it from medical personnel (48.1%) and the Internet (25.9%). Further analysis showed that only courses taken by the respondents were significantly associated with knowledge on CKD (p = 0.039). The level of knowledge among undergraduate students is still poor, yet they are aware about the existence of CKD and its aetiology. Therefore, the health sciences curriculum should emphasise on CKD management from a multidisciplinary aspect of care. It is recommended to conduct similar research among different student populations to create awareness and obtain important baseline findings

Malnutrition risk among chronic kidney disease patients attending the nephrology clinic in Hospital Tengku Ampuan Afzan, Pahang

Objective: The prevalence of chronic kidney disease among adult in Malaysia has been increasing and it is forecasted that the pattern will remain. The risk for malnutrition is prominent especially in the later stage of chronic kidney disease. Early detection of malnutrition is important to prevent further complications. However, limited studies on malnutrition risk has been conducted in Malaysia. Therefore, this study was performed to determine the prevalence and associated risk factor of malnutrition among chronic kidney disease patient attending Nephrology Clinic in Hospital Tengku Ampuan Afzan, Kuantan, Pahang. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 70 chronic kidney disease patients using convenience sampling. All patients were explained about the study and informed consent obtained prior the administration of questionnaire. There were three parts of questionnaire to be answered which were on sociodemographic, clinical characteristic and dietary information along with Malnutrition Risk Screening Tool-Hospital to measure the risk for malnutrition. Results: Most of the participants were married (75.7%), had completed primary school (58.6%), currently not working (32.9%), had income between RM 1000 to RM 1999 (37.1%) and living with three or four members in a household (24.3%). Majority had at least one precipitating disease that causes chronic kidney disease such as hypertension (71.4%) followed by diabetes (61.4%) and high cholesterol (30.0%). Almost 21.4% of chronic kidney disease patients screened were at risk for malnutrition. Further inferential analysis shows an association between weight loss (p=0.001) towards risk for malnutrition. Conclusion: Overall, the risk for malnutrition among chronic kidney disease patient was fairly high. This warrant close attention of the healthcare professional that caring for the patients particularly in detection of detrimental weight loss during each follow up visit. A referral to the dietician is important to ensure the patients received adequate counselling and education on dietary management