Evaluation of Kidney Disease Education on Clinical Outcomes and Knowledge of Self-Management Behaviors of Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a public health problem in United States. Providing kidney disease education (KDE) is an effective and integral part of CKD management. This two-part non-experimental study retrospectively evaluated clinical outcomes of participants of a Medicare Kidney Disease Education (KDE) program and prospectively evaluated kidney disease knowledge of survey participants from the general population of patients with CKD. Results showed that participants of a KDE program demonstrated slower decline in GFR compared to non-participants (M = 18.3 mL/min/1.73m2, SD = 8.3 mL/min/1.73m2 vs. M = 15.0 mL/min/1.73m2, SD = 6.1 mL/min/1.73m2). Providing KDE to individuals with CKD Stage 4 was associated with improved clinical outcomes.