Background of the study: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a progressive condition characterized by a gradual decline in kidney function, leading to multiple systemic complications, of which anemia is one of the most common and significant. Anemia can accelerate disease progression and worsen overall prognosis in CKD patients when not managed. Preventive measures such as adequate iron and nutritional intake, regular monitoring of hemoglobin levels, adherence to prescribed medications, and early recognition of warning signs play a vital role in minimizing the severity of anemia.

Objectives of the study

§  To assess the knowledge regarding prevention of anemia among patients diagnosed with chronic kidney disease.

§  To find out the association between the knowledge regarding prevention of anemia with socio demographic variables such as age, gender, religion, marital status, educational level, occupation, income, type of family, place of residence, social habits, duration of CKD, stage of CKD, dialysis status, previous history of anemia, source of information and comorbid illness.

Materials and Methods: A quantitative research approach is adopted to assess the knowledge regarding prevention of anemia among patients diagnosed with CKD. The investigator selected non-experimental descriptive research design. A simple random sampling technique was used to select the 30 patients diagnosed with chronic kidney disease in a selected hospital at Mangaluru. The knowledge regarding prevention of anemia in CKD was assessed through a semi-structured knowledge questionnaire by an interview method. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics.

Results: The study findings revealed that among 30 samples, the majority of 16(53%) of the participants had inadequate knowledge, 14(47%) had moderate knowledge and none of the participants had adequate knowledge regarding prevention of anemia among patients diagnosed with chronic kidney disease. The overall knowledge mean score and standard deviation was 10 ± 3.76 and mean percentage was 32.69% which was inadequate level of knowledge regarding the prevention of anemia among patients diagnosed with chronic kidney disease. There was no significant association between knowledge score and the selected sociodemographic variables. Hence, the research hypothesis H₁ is rejected.