Psychosocial aspects of living-related donor renal transplantation: Quality of life and mood in recipients, donors and controls

Due to the high frequency of living-related donor renal transplantation (LRDRT) in our country, we were concerned both about the recipient and the donor quality of life and psychological well-being. We investigated HRQL and mood in LRDRT recipients, donors, and controls using the Beck Depression Inventory, Beck Anxiety Inventory, and 36-item Short Form Health Survey. The recipient group consisted of 69 individuals who underwent renal transplantation between August 2002 and June 2004. The donor group consisted of 35 and the control group 45 healthy individuals. Multivariate analysis of variance and the post hoc (Tukey) test were used to assess and to analyze differences among and between the three groups. The depression scores of the recipients were higher than donors (P 0.05) but were similar to controls. The recipient scores indicated poorer physical functioning (P 0.001), greater physical limitation on roles (P 0.001), and lower levels of general health (P 0.01) compared to controls. The donor scores indicated higher vitality (P 0.01), better social functioning (P 0.05) and greater mental health (P 0.01) than controls. Poorer health and mood status among the recipient group might reflect the various negative impacts of chronic debilitating disease. It is therefore recommended to screen recipients regularly for clinically relevant HRQL impairments after transplantation.