title: A comparison of donor and control group quality of life.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Informed consent of prospective donors should include information about the quality of life (QoL) of existing donors, especially those within the relevant country. This study aimed to provide information on Malaysian organ donors' QoL relative to a control group.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using a shorter version of the SF-36, QoL of 80 donors from the University of Malaya Medical Center (UMMC), Malaysia was surveyed and compared to QoL of 80 selected healthy individuals. ANOVA and General Linear Model (GLM) procedure were each applied for the QoL comparison, which was based on gender and age.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Donors recorded a better QoL relative to the control group. Comparison across gender revealed that differences are more obvious for males than females. Donor/control comparison across age groups reveals that donors aged 56 and above reported significantly better QoL in most domains relative to other age groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Information on donor QoL should be made available to the public to present a comprehensive picture of the consequences of organ donation. Nonetheless, we also argue that, despite the merits of organ donation, caution is required before concluding that donors have better QoL because the present research outcomes may reflect a self-selection bias in which respondents only included donors engaging in regular follow-ups.
authors.affiliation: Department of Administrative Studies and Politics, Faculty of Economics and Administration, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Makmor
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tumin
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Statistics, Faculty of Economics and Administration, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Muzalwana
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Abdul Talib Abdul Mutalib
authors.affiliation: Department of Economics, Faculty of Economics and Administration, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Nurulhuda
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mohd Satar
authors.affiliation: Department of Administrative Studies and Politics, Faculty of Economics and Administration, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Nawi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Abdullah
authors.affiliation: Department of Economics, Faculty of Economics and Administration, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Chin-Sieng
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Chong
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Kok-Peng
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Ng
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Soo-Kun
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Lim
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D035061:Control Groups; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007258:Informed Consent / Q000523:psychology*; D016030:Kidney Transplantation / Q000523:psychology*; D019520:Living Donors / Q000523:psychology*; D008296:Malaysia; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires