Nutrition-Related Knowledge, Dietary Practices, Malnutrition Risk and Nutrition Service Use among Chronic Kidney Disease Patients: A Cross-Sectional Study

Raymond Bayor, Patience Gaa and Victor Mogre

Background and Objective: Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) management requires dietary modifications, but patients have limited nutrition knowledge and face barriers to adherence, especially in resource-limited settings. This study assessed nutrition-related knowledge, dietary practices, malnutrition risk and utilisation of nutrition services among CKD patients in Ghana. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among CKD patients at the Tamale Teaching Hospital using a questionnaire covering demographics, clinical characteristics, knowledge, dietary practices, physical activity, nutrition service use and malnutrition risk. Data was described using descriptive statistics of mean and frequencies. Results: The mean age was 47.4±8.2 years; 54% were male and most had low education/income. Most patients were in Stage 4 CKD, with hypertension (33.6%) and diabetes (23%) being common. Nutrition knowledge was moderate (mean score 4.3/7) with notable gaps; 79.3% were at high risk of malnutrition, dietary adherence was low and physical activity was mostly light. While 65.7% used nutrition services, satisfaction was limited (46.4%), with financial, availability and cultural factors as main barriers. Conclusion: Nutrition-related knowledge gaps, suboptimal dietary practices, high malnutrition risk and socioeconomic and cultural barriers were evident. These findings highlight the need to strengthen nutrition education, improve dietetic services and implement culturally appropriate dietary interventions to improve CKD care in hospital settings.

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