[French citizens do not know much about their kidneys... results of a nationwide survey on renal diseases].

Prevalence of chronic renal disease increases in France and in the world mainly because of ageing and diabetes mellitus. Early diagnosis and treatment of chronic renal disease allows significant slowing of the speed of degradation of glomerular filtration rate and may postpone or alleviate initiation of dialysis, an expensive and time consuming therapy. For the first time in France in October 2005, a campaign of information to improve awareness of French citizens on renal diseases was organised. A survey was conducted by BVA in a sample of the French population to evaluate their degree of knowledge on renal diseases. Our study showed that French citizens do not know much about anatomical and physiological considerations concerning their kidneys. They are not aware of symptoms revealing renal disease or therapy available in case of kidney failure. Almost one third of the persons interviewed are directly or indirectly touched by renal diseases. It seems that efforts should be made to better information of French citizens on renal diseases as a first step towards improvement of chronic renal failure treatment strategy.