Changes in quality of life in deceased versus living-donor kidney transplantations.
OBJECTIVE
In Japan, >80% of kidney transplantations (KTs) are performed from living donors because of a severe shortage of deceased donors. Moreover, >90% of deceased donors are non-heart-beating donors. In this study, we compared the quality of life (QOL) of the recipients between living- and deceased-donor KT performed in our hospital.


METHODS
QOLs of 91 recipients (11 deceased donors and 80 living donors) were analyzed using the Short Form 36 before and 1, 2, and 3 years after KT. Changes in QOLs were compared between deceased-donor KT (group DD) and living-donor KT (group LD).


RESULTS
In group DD, physical (PCS) and mental (MCS) component summary scores before transplantation were 43.7 and 48.7, respectively. PCS decreased to 35.3 at 1 year and 34.2 at 2 years, but increased to 52.6 at 3 years. MCS as 43.2 at 1 year, 52.2 at 2 years, and 44.5 at 3 years. In group LD, PCS and MCS before transplantation were 36.9 and 42.6, respectively. PCS increased to 43.3 at 1 year, 47.6 at 2 years, and 51.0 at 3 years, and MCS increased to 47.8 at 1 year, 50.1 at 2 years, and 49.6 at 3 years.


CONCLUSIONS
The recipients of living-donor KT showed an improvement of QOL immediately after transplantation. However, in the recipients of deceased-donor KT, physical QOL (PCS) decreased for 2 years after transplantation. The reasons seem to be long waiting period and the use of non-heart-beating donors in deceased-donor KT in Japan.
Clinical Research Center, Chiba-East National Hospital, Chiba, Japan.
A
A
Suzuki
T
T
Kenmochi
M
M
Maruyama
N
N
Akutsu
C
C
Iwashita
K
K
Otsuki
T
T
Ito
I
I
Matsumoto
T
T
Asano
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D016030:Kidney Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000523:psychology; D019520:Living Donors / Q000600:supply & distribution; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors; D014019:Tissue Donors / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014850:Waiting Lists