Acceptability and Feasibility of Interventions for Integrated Care of Chronic Kidney Disease With Other Long-term Health Conditions in Malawi: a Qualitative Study

The burden of chronic kidney disease (CKD) is rising globally, but disproportionately impacting on low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) including Malawi, which have the fewest resources to manage it. Furthermore, CKD is the leading cause of catastrophic health expenditure worldwide, largely due to the extremely high costs of kidney replacement therapy (KRT) for people with kidney failure. Access to KRT remains limited in many settings, including Malawi, where there is only one nephrologist for a population of over 21 million. It is therefore essential to diagnose and treat CKD in its early stages, to facilitate earlier and more cost-effective treatment to prevent its progression to advanced disease which is associated with increased risks of kidney failure and of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. CKD is usually asymptomatic in its early stages, so early diagnosis and treatments requires access to key diagnostic tests, in addition to strategies for channelling resources to those at the highest risk.

The causes of CKD are diverse, particularly in LMIC settings where the increasing prevalence of non-communicable diseases intersects with ongoing high burdens of infectious diseases, malnutrition, and many other social and environmental determinants of kidney health. The World Health Organization recommends integrated approaches to improve equity of quality care for people living with long-term conditions, and CKD would be amenable to integrated approaches, however CKD has been neglected from global NCD agendas and there is little data to guide the most effective methods for integrating its care with other long-term conditions (such as hypertension, diabetes and HIV infection), particularly in low-income settings such as Malawi.

The aim of this study is to explore current experiences of care for CKD and related long-term conditions, and to qualitatively evaluate the acceptability and feasibility of different potential approaches to integrating their care, amongst different stakeholders groups in Malawi.