Introduction:

The onset of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) has been partially related to the limited knowledge of patients about the renal pathophysiology and related risk factors, which in turn predicts a worse diagnosis and prognosis. In this regard, well-known health literacy since young ages could prevent the development of bad life habits.

Main objective:

To evaluate the knowledge about the basic concepts associated to the CKD in university students of Malaga.

Material and Method:

A cross-descriptive study was carried out with undergraduate students at the University of Malaga during the 2016-2017 academic year, through a self-administered questionnaire, prepared ad hoc, to determine their renal physiopathology and prevention knowledge. The questionnaire had 28 questions, divided into 5 thematic categories and was reviewed previous administration by 10 nephology experts (physicians and nurses) and was piloted with 38 people.

Results:

The level of knowledge was generally low, with an average of 14.13±4.7 hits over 28. Statistically significant differences were found by branch of knowledge, where Health Sciences students obtained the best results with 18.25 (CI 17.18-19.32) hits (p<0.001). In addition, Sciences branch students obtained comparable results to Health Sciences in renal anatomophysiology questions.

Conclusions:

Undergraduate students of the University of Malaga have a low level of knowledge of CKD. Future studies with healthy population in this field are needed.