title: Quality of Life After Kidney Transplantation: A Prospective Study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The purpose of renal transplantation is to achieve a maximal improvement in quality of life (QoL) and life expectancy in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) while minimizing the potential side effects of this procedure. It is important to achieve an optimal balance between graft function and the patient's QoL. This study was designed to assess the changes in the QoL after kidney transplantation (KTx) in patients with ESRD previously treated with hemodialysis (HD) or peritoneal dialysis (PD).
  
  
  METHODS
  QoL was prospectively analyzed in 69 patients after kidney transplantation in a single-center study. Patients with ESRD were divided into 2 groups: those previously treated with HD (n = 44 patients; group 1) or PD (n = 25 patients; group 2). Both groups were asked to complete the KDQOL-SFtm questionnaire before and 12 months after kidney transplantation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We observed significant differences in many parameters of QoL in both groups after KTx but more positive changes of most parameters in question exhibited by patients previously treated by means of HD than PD. Patients treated with HD and PD demonstrated improvement after KTx in 74% of dimensions. There were no statistical differences in the QoL between group 1 and group 2 before or after KTx.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The study demonstrated post- to pre-transplant improvements of QoL independently of previous treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of General, Endocrine, and Transplant Surgery, Medical University of Gdańsk, Poland. Electronic address: kostro@gumed.edu.pl.
authors.forename: J Z
authors.initials: JZ
authors.lastname: Kostro
authors.affiliation: Department of General, Endocrine, and Transplant Surgery, Medical University of Gdańsk, Poland.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hellmann
authors.affiliation: Department of General, Endocrine, and Transplant Surgery, Medical University of Gdańsk, Poland.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kobiela
authors.affiliation: Regional Transplant Coordination Centre, UCK Gdańsk, Poland.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Skóra
authors.affiliation: Department of Palliative Medicine, Medical University of Gdańsk, Poland.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lichodziejewska-Niemierko
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology, Transplantology, and Internal Medicine, Medical University of Gdańsk, Poland.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dębska-Ślizień
authors.affiliation: Department of General, Endocrine, and Transplant Surgery, Medical University of Gdańsk, Poland.
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Śledziński
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000523:psychology*; D016030:Kidney Transplantation / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010530:Peritoneal Dialysis / Q000523:psychology; D011184:Postoperative Period; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life; D006435:Renal Dialysis / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires