{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T14:59:05Z","timestamp":1785423545191,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":52,"publisher":"AOSIS","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,9]],"date-time":"2025-12-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1765238400000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background:\u00a0Chronic kidney disease (CKD) has emerged as a major public health concern in Cameroon, particularly among individuals with hypertension and diabetes, who face significant barriers to effective disease management.\nAim:\u00a0This prospective cohort study aimed to assess CKD awareness, healthcare-seeking behaviours, and self-care management practices among hypertensive and\/or diabetic patients at risk of CKD.\nSetting:\u00a0The study was conducted from September 2022 to April 2024 among 400 participants attending four healthcare facilities in the Buea Health District, Cameroon.\nMethods:\u00a0Structured questionnaires collected data on socio-demographics, clinical status, CKD knowledge and self-care adherence, with logistic regression analysing associations between risk factors and outcomes.\nResults:\u00a0The study revealed alarming gaps in CKD knowledge, with only 35% of participants recognising hypertension and diabetes as primary risk factors. Misconceptions were widespread, including 90% falsely believing urine colour reliably indicates kidney health. Self-care practices were inconsistent: while dietary adherence was relatively high (97.3% avoided excess salt, 88.5% consumed vegetables regularly), critical monitoring behaviours were neglected \u2013 only 15.2% underwent regular renal check-ups, and 29.8% monitored blood pressure at home. Hypertension was strongly associated with CKD (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 4.28, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.25\u201314.67), whereas diabetes alone showed no significant link. Socio-demographic disparities further compounded these challenges, with tertiary-educated participants demonstrating better CKD awareness than those with primary education (p\u00a0&lt; 0.05).\nConclusion:\u00a0These findings underscore systemic deficiencies in CKD prevention and management, including poor health literacy, financial barriers and inadequate healthcare infrastructure.\nContribution:\u00a0To mitigate CKD\u2019s growing burden, policymakers must prioritise community-based education, subsidised screening programmes and improved access to monitoring tools. Culturally tailored interventions, integrating patient empowerment and health system strengthening, are urgently needed to enhance early detection and long-term outcomes in resource-limited settings like Cameroon.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.4102\/jphia.v16i1.1427","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,9]],"date-time":"2025-12-09T10:05:07Z","timestamp":1765274707000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.4102\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Health seeking behaviour and self-care among hypertensive and diabetics at risk of CKD in Buea, Cameroon"],"prefix":"10.4102","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0009-4972-3879","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sally","family":"Mondoa","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/041kdhz15","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"University of Buea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0002-1830-2683","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Emmanuel","family":"Vubo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/041kdhz15","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"University of Buea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7519-0991","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nsagha","family":"Shey","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/041kdhz15","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"University of Buea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"2580","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,9]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref0","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"GBD Chronic Kidney Disease Collaboration. 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