Health related quality of life of long-term kidney transplantation recipients.
BACKGROUND
Health related quality of life (HRQOL) is an important issue for long-term kidney transplantation (KT) patients. Nevertheless, few studies have focused on long-term HRQOL in KT recipients with a functional graft. Thus, the aim of this study is to describe the long-term (10-year) HRQOL of KT recipients.


METHODS
This is a cross-sectional and correlational design. The Medical Outcome Survey (MOS SF-36) questionnaire was used to collect data on HRQOL. The data were collected from November 2009 to September 2010 at a medical center in Northern Taiwan.


RESULTS
A total of 88 patients were interviewed. The mean years after transplantation was 14.48 (SD = 3.9). The mean score of each of the HRQOL subscales ranged from 59.4 to 82.5. The mean scores on the bodily pain (BP) subscale were the highest and, on the general health (GH) subscale, the lowest. Compared to the general population, with the exception of the BP subscale, long-term KT patients had a lower mean score (poorer HRQOL) on all subscales. Age, gender, serum creatinine level, and employment status were significantly related to HRQOL.


CONCLUSIONS
HRQOL of long-term KT patients was, overall, poorer than that of the general population. When comparing the HRQOL of KT patients with that of the general population, one should take into account age and gender. Finally, the physical, psychological, and social adjustment domains of HRQOL of KT patients warrant further attention.
Department of Urology, School of Nursing, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
Tsui-Yuan
TY
Wei
Yang-Jen
YJ
Chiang
Chin-Yi
CY
Hsieh
Li-Chueh
LC
Weng
Shu-Chen
SC
Lin
Mei-Hsiu
MH
Lin
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D006801:Humans; D016030:Kidney Transplantation / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013995:Time