IOSR Journal of Dental and Medical Sciences (IOSR-JDMS) e-ISSN: 2279-0853, p-ISSN: 2279-0861.Volume 20, Issue 9 Ser.6 (September. 2021), PP 01-07 www.iosrjournals.org DOI: 10.9790/0853-2009060107 www.iosrjournal.org 1 | Page Knowledge Attitude and Practices(KAP) towards Covid- 19 among Chronic Kidney Disease(CKD) patients on Maintenance Hemodialysis at a Tertiary Healthcare Centre. Krithika Muralidhara 1 , Shashank Dhareshwar 2 , Vinod Nagesh 3 , Limesh Marisiddappa 4 , Prashanth Kedelaya 5 , Renuka Satish 6 , Sumithra Selvam 7 1 (Department of Nephrology, St Johns Medical College Hospital, Bangalore, India) 2 (Department of Nephrology, St Johns Medical College Hospital, Bangalore, India) 3 (Department of Nephrology, St Johns Medical College Hospital, Bangalore, India) 4 (Department of Nephrology, St Johns Medical College Hospital, Bangalore, India) 5 (Department of Nephrology, St Johns Medical College Hospital, Bangalore, India) 6 (Department of Nephrology, St Johns Medical College Hospital, Bangalore, India) 7 (Division of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Population Health, St Johns Research Institute, Bangalore, India) Abstract: Background: The Covid-19 pandemic has greatly impacted the life of general population and people with chronic illness in particular. Our study aims to assess the Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) towards COVID-19 among patients with Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) on Maintenance Hemodialysis (MHD). Material and Methods: A questionnaire based face to face interview was conducted after informed consent. The questionnaire tested knowledge regarding transmission, symptoms, risk factors and treatment of Covid-19 infection. The attitude towards following preventive measures and compliance to safe practices was recorded. The KAP results were correlated with various demographic characteristics like age, gender, education status, employment and dialysis vintage. Results: Of the 109 patients interviewed, mean age was 50 years, 73% were males, 58% had only basic education and 60% were unemployed. Sufficient knowledge was found in 93% patients. Insufficient knowledge correlated with low education levels. Negative attitude correlated with female gender, low education levels and unemployment. Nearly all of the patients were compliant with safe practices. Conclusions: Risk perception of Covid-19 infection to self and family members was high among our patients. The KAP score significantly varied with education status. Key words: Covid-19, Knowledge, Attitude, Practice, Chronic Kidney Disease, Maintenance Hemodialysis. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date of Submission: 28-08-2021 Date of Acceptance: 12-09-2021 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I. Introduction Covid-19 is a respiratory infection that was first discovered in December 2019, in Wuhan city, Hubei Province, China. The infection was considered as a public health emergency and declared as a ‘global pandemic’ in March 2020 1 . The infection is characterized by rapid transmission from close contact with an infected person 2 . The disease can manifest as mild asymptomatic illness to severe respiratory distress leading to death. The predominant symptoms of Covid-19 are fever, dry cough, fatigue, myalgia and shortness of breath 3 . The overall mortality rate varies from 0.7%-10.8% 4 . However, the infection tends to be severe with high mortality in older adults and people with underlying chronic illness 5,6,7 . A systematic review on Covid-19 patients with hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases confirmed the same. 8 According to Centre for Disease Control (CDC), 63.1% of adults older than 60 years have hypertension, 38% of people older than 65 years have Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) and 26.8% of adults older than age 65 have diabetes 9,10,11 . Unprecedented measures for controlling the transmission, lead to various challenges for health care professionals and the general public. However, the burden on patients with chronic illness requiring frequent outpatient and/or inpatient hospital visits seems to be unmatched. The Knowledge Attitudes and Practices (KAP) towards any pandemic play an important role in determining peoples readiness to accept various preventive strategies 12,13,14 . Most studies have assessed KAP towards Covid-19 among general public and health care workers. Our study aims to investigate the KAP towards Covid-19 among CKD patients on Maintenance