Nephrologists may need more training in women's health

Strong points

• Nephrologists often lack confidence in the management of women's health problems that may be related to kidney disease.
• The results of the study will be presented at ASN Kidney Week 2018, October 23-28, at the San Diego Convention Center.

San Diego, California (October 26, 2018) – Many kidney disease specialists need more training and badistance to manage women's health issues, according to a study that will be presented to ASN Kidney Week 2018 from October 23 to 28 at the San Diego Convention Center.

A wide range of women's health issues are closely related to kidney disease, but little is known about clinician confidence in these problems. To investigate, Monica Reynolds, MD (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill), Elizabeth Hendren, MD (University of Toronto) and their colleagues sent a 25-question survey to nephrologists in the United States and Canada.

Of the 154 respondents, 58% came from the United States, 53% were women, and the median age was 41 to 45 years old. Most nephrologists gave advice on contraception (65%) or pre-conception planning (76%) to an average of less than one woman per month, although counseling was more common in the United States. United. Nephrologists often lacked confidence in managing many women's health problems, including menstrual disorders, contraception, osteoporosis and menopause. Although female providers had more confidence in contraceptive counseling (42% versus 23%), there was no other significant difference in confidence level based on gender or country of practice. Physicians have also reported anomalies in the documentation of obstetrical history, although factors during pregnancy are clinically important for badessing the risk of cardiovascular disease in women.

"We hope that by highlighting these gaps, we will be able to target future interventions aimed at improving patient-centered care for women with chronic kidney failure," said Dr. Reynolds. "Further research is needed to develop tools to increase training knowledge, identify the best mechanisms to build physician confidence and facilitate the creation of interdisciplinary clinics."

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Study: "Confidence in women's health: an international survey of nephrologists"

ASN Kidney Week 2018, the largest meeting of its kind in nephrology, will provide more than 13,000 professionals with a forum to discuss the latest discoveries in kidney health research and participate in training sessions on progress in the management of patients with kidney and related disorders. Kidney Week 2018 will be held October 23-28 at the San Diego Convention Center.

Since 1966, ASN has led the fight to prevent, treat and treat kidney disease worldwide by training health professionals and scientists, advancing research and innovation, communicating new knowledge and by advocating optimal care for patients. ASN has more than 20,000 members representing 131 countries. For more information, please visit http: // www.asn-online.org.

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