Measuring Patients' Level of Knowledge Regarding Kidney Transplantation in Eastern Hungary

Adequate knowledge is needed to make the correct decision regarding kidney transplantation. The purpose of this study was to measure the demographic, sociologic, economic, and cultural factors that may influence patients' decision-making regarding kidney transplantation and to explore patients' knowledge of renal replacement therapies. A total of 254 end-stage renal disease patients (predialysis, peritoneal dialysis, and hemodialysis) from 8 dialysis centers in eastern Hungary participated in our study. We developed a questionnaire that measures patients' knowledge of renal replacement therapies and the role of sociodemographic, economic, and cultural factors that may influence their knowledge. Factors influencing the knowledge scores were evaluated using a multivariate linear regression adjusted for 8 factors. We found a significant correlation between education level and knowledge score, where patients with greater education (greater than high school: β = 3.003; P < .001; high school: β = 1.906; P < .001) achieved higher knowledge scores than those without. Moreover, patients with a previous kidney transplant (β = -2.111; P < .001) had greater knowledge in the field. Our study identified a risk group where targeted, personalized patient education is essential.