Ramadan fasting among advanced chronic kidney disease patients: Nephrologists’ perspectives in Saudi Arabia

OBJECTIVES: To explore nephrologists’ concerns and recommendations in counseling their advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients on Ramadan fasting. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was carried out in King Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia between January 2019 and January 2020. An electronic survey was completed by 48 nephrologists practicing in Saudi Arabia. The questionnaire focused on demographics, clinical experience, and factors to consider when advising CKD patients about fasting. Statistical analysis was performed by the Statistical Package for Social Sciences for Windows, version 21 (IBM Corp, Armonk, NY, USA). Statistics include frequency and percentages using multiple response dichotomy analysis and thematic analysis. RESULTS: Most respondents were consultant nephrologists (75%), practicing nephrology for over 10 years (68.8%). The majority of responding nephrologists (85.4%) were concerned about estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), diabetes (68.8%), patient age (64.6%), use of diuretics (62.5%), body fluid volume (60.4%), and blood pressure (60.4%). CONCLUSION: This research addresses nephrologists’ perspectives about Ramadan fasting for patients with advanced CKD. It highlights factors they consider when advising CKD patients about fasting, which were used to suggest applications in practice. Further studies are needed to comprehend nephrologists’ and CKD patients’ perspectives on fasting.