Abstract

Background: Paediatric renal diseases can have a deleterious impact on the lives of both patients and their caregivers. Understanding the perspectives of caregivers regarding the potential causes of these diseases can provide valuable insights for healthcare providers and researchers.


Objective: To assess the perception of caregivers regarding the causes of renal diseases in children and their health-seeking behaviors.


Methods: This was a hospital-based retrospective study. The knowledge of the renal diseases of 99 caregivers of children with renal disease seen in the Children’s Outpatient Department (OPD) and emergency units of the Delta State University Teaching Hospital, Oghara was analyzed. The data analyzed were sociodemographic characteristics, healthcare-seeking behaviour and knowledge of symptoms and perceived causes of the disease by the participants. The records analyzed were from the period of 2018 to 2022. The level of significance of analysis was set at p < 0.05. Ethical approval was obtained from the Research and Ethics Committee of the Delta State University Teaching Hospital, Oghara.


Results: Ninety-nine guardians of children with renal disease were recruited. Half 50 (50.5%) of the guardians sought treatment first at the patent medicine store while only one-fourth 25 (25.3%) utilized the hospital as the first place of treatment. An equal number of participants identified fever 24 (24.2%) and body swelling 24 (24.2%) as symptoms that made them think of kidney disease. Furthermore, about one-third 32 (32.3%) of the guardians were not aware of the likely cause of the disease, while an almost equal number of them identified self-medication 23 (23.2%) and use of mercury/bleaching cream 20 (20.2%) as possible causes of renal disease in children. Although half of the participants had secondary level of education 50 (50.5%), there was however no statistically significant association between educational status of respondents and the perceived cause of renal diseases (p=0.487).


Conclusion: effectively managing renal diseases in children, necessitates educating both their caregivers and the general public to help lower the related morbidity and mortality rates.