Knowledge and Attitude of Healthcare Workers towards Kidney Transplantation in Nigeria

Background: The knowledge and attitude of healthcare workers towards kidney transplantation are fundamental in the development and sustainability of transplant programs. Healthcare workers caninfluence the willingness to donate kidneys. Objectives: To evaluate the knowledge and attitude of Nigerian healthcare workers regarding kidney transplantation. Methods: A prospective study of doctors and nurses at the 43 Paediatric Association of Nigeria Conference in Ile-Ife, in January 2012 was carried out. Selfadministered questionnaires on the knowledge and attitude of healthcare workers towards kidney transplantation were given to participants practising in Nigeria to complete. Results: The questionnaire completion rate was 93.6% (n = 217). Majority (45.2%) of the respondents were aged 35 – 44 years; 59.0% had been in practice for more than 10 years and 83.9% were Christians. On the average, the healthcare workers responded correctly to 63.9% of the questions testing on knowledge and 50.7% were willing to donate kidneys. There was significant relationship between willingness to donate and profession (p = 0.001) but not with age, gender, tribe, religion or duration of practice. Conclusion: Nigerian healthcare workers have good knowledge and favourable attitude towards kidney transplantation. We recommend training of health workers to further improve their knowledge on renal transplantation.