title: Quality of life of elderly live kidney donors.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Expanding the use of elderly live donors may help meet the demand for kidney transplants. The aim of this study was to quantify the effect of the surgical procedure on the quality of life (QOL) of elderly donors compared with younger donors.
  
  
  METHODS
  Alongside three prospective studies (two randomized) running between May 2001 and October 2010, we asked 501 live donors to fill out the Short Form-36 questionnaire preoperatively and at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months postoperatively. We defined live donors 60 years or older as elderly. Between-group analyses regarding QOL were adjusted for baseline values and gender.
  
  
  RESULTS
  One hundred thirty-five donors were older and 366 donors were younger than 60 years. The response rate was high, with 87% at 12 months postoperatively. Elderly donors less often scored as American Society of Anaesthesiology classification 1 (60% vs. 81%; P<0.001) indicating a higher rate of minor comorbidity. At 1 month postoperatively, between-group analysis showed a significant advantage in QOL in favor of the elderly group regarding the dimensions "bodily pain" (7 points; P=0.001), "role physical" (18 points; P<0.001), and "vitality" (5 points; P=0.008). At 3 months, "bodily pain" (3 points, P=0.04) and "role physical" (8 points, P=0.02) were still in favor of the older group. At 6 and 12 months, "physical function" was in favor of the younger group (3 and 5 points, respectively; P=0.04 and P<0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study demonstrates that elderly donors recover relatively fast. The perspective of excellent postoperative QOL may help convince elderly individuals to donate.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Surgery, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. 2 Department of Internal Medicine, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. 3 Department of Nephrology, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center, The Netherlands. 4 Address correspondence to: Niels F.M. Kok, M.D., Ph.D., Department of Surgery, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center, P.O. Box 2040, 3000 CA Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Karel W J
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Klop
authors.forename: Leonienke F C
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Dols
authors.forename: Willem
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Weimar
authors.forename: Ine M
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Dooper
authors.forename: Jan N M
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: IJzermans
authors.forename: Niels F M
authors.initials: NF
authors.lastname: Kok
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D046148:Donor Selection; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D016030:Kidney Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects; D019520:Living Donors / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009392:Nephrectomy / Q000009:adverse effects; D009426:Netherlands; D010149:Postoperative Pain / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life; D020127:Recovery of Function; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors