title: Rates and correlates of health maintenance behaviors after living kidney donation.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Donating a kidney may provide an opportunity for donors to reevaluate their health maintenance behaviors (eg, regular exercise, smoking cessation, medical checkups). Although the effect of donation on donors' health, quality of life, and financial outcomes has received growing attention, no studies have examined whether donation is related to changes in health maintenance behaviors. The study aims were to (1) describe and compare kidney donors' health maintenance behaviors before and after donation, and (2) determine the correlates of health maintenance behaviors after donation. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS AND MEASURES: We conducted a telephone-interview study with 85 randomly selected laparoscopic kidney donors in a major US transplant center to assess health behaviors before and after donation, postdonation characteristics (eg, quality of life, postsurgical pain), and demographics.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sample demographics included a median age of 48 years; 55% were female, 82% were white, 71% were married, and 52% were college graduates. Few health behaviors changed significantly from before to after donation. Only the rate of medical checkups increased after donation (P< .001). Logistic regression was used to examine the association of demographics and postdonation characteristics with postdonation health maintenance behaviors, after adjusting for predonation behavior. Older age, higher income, less postsurgical pain, and better physical functioning were associated with more exercise after donation. Longer time since donation was associated with a higher prevalence of obesity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results may help identify donors who are at greater risk for poor health maintenance behaviors after donation and suggest areas of health behavior that should be the focus of education sessions before donation.
authors.affiliation: VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. larissa.myaskovsky@va.gov
authors.forename: Larissa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Myaskovsky
authors.forename: Donna Almario
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Doebler
authors.forename: Donna M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Posluszny
authors.forename: Mary Amanda
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Dew
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Unruh
authors.forename: Megan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Crowley-Matoka
authors.forename: Galen E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Switzer
authors.forename: Annette Devito
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Dabbs
authors.forename: Chung-Chou H
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Andrea F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Dimartini
authors.forename: Ron
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Shapiro
authors.forename: Henkie
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tan
mesh_terms: D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D016030:Kidney Transplantation; D019520:Living Donors; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology; D010149:Postoperative Pain / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D011788:Quality of Life; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology