A Multinational Survey of Healthcare Professionals on Climate Change and Kidney Health

The following is a summary of “Climate Change, Kidney Health, and Environmentally Sustainable Kidney Care: A Multinational Survey of Health Care Professionals,” published in the May 2024 issue of Nephrology by Sandal et al.

Climate change threatens kidney health, and kidney care has a significant environmental footprint. There’s a growing push for healthcare to advocate for climate action, but we need more information on their involvement.

Researchers conducted a retrospective study to understand the engagement of healthcare professionals and organizations in climate advocacy and sustainable kidney care, especially in low-income countries. 

They conducted a survey to learn about healthcare professionals’ knowledge, attitudes, and actions regarding climate change and kidney health links. The surveys examined personal and organizational efforts in sustainable kidney care and ways to boost involvement, and the responses were compared by country income levels as classified by the World Bank.

The results showed that out of 971 participants from 108 countries, 64% were from lower-or middle-income countries. Most (98%) acknowledged climate change, but <50% knew about its kidney health impact. Only 14% were active in climate and kidney health efforts, while 22% were involved in sustainable kidney care (education/advocacy, preventative nephrology, sustainable dialysis, promoting transplant/home therapies, and research). Organizational initiatives (sustainable general or dialysis practices, preventative/lean nephrology, focused committees) were reported by 26%. Lower-income countries generally showed higher knowledge. However, engagement in sustainable kidney care was similar in terms of income. The top choices to boost engagement were guidance/toolkit (79%), continuing education (75%), and opportunities (74%). National initiatives (47%), research endeavors(31%), and preventative measures (35%) were prioritized for organizational involvement, with variations by income level.

Investigators concluded that healthcare professionals’ understanding and actions were severely lacking regarding the link between kidney disease and climate change worldwide while also identifying ways to boost their involvement.

Source: journals.lww.com/jasn/abstract/9900/climate_change,_kidney_health,_and_environmentally.320.aspx