Little is known about long-term quality of life of kidney donors. We studied subjective experiences of donors before and two years after kidney donation using in-depth interviews of eleven subjects. Interviews were audiotaped, transcribed, and analyzed by qualitative content analysis (grounded theory). Resulting categories of this process were grouped in order to construct ideal types of subjective experiences after kidney donation. Of our donors, 64% were female, mean age was 40.4 years. Donors reported that they had had no medical problems after donation. Most displayed psychological problems, e. g. difficulties adjusting to the new situation, hypochondriacal complaints, and fear of rejection of the recipient’s kidney. Psychological complaints were particularly troublesome in case of complications of the recipient. All donors wished extended counselling after kidney donation. Identifying problems of kidney donors may be easier when doctors are trained in typical experiences. This may also guide the tailoring of individual psychological interventions.
References
[1]
M. Neipp, B. Karavul, S. Jackobs, et al., “Quality of Life in Adult Transplant Recipients More Than 15 Years after Kidney Transplantation,” Transplantation, Vol. 81, No. 12, 2006, pp. 1640-1644.
doi:10.1097/01.tp.0000226070.74443.fb
[2]
K. Griva, J. Stygall, J. H. Ng, et al., “Prospective Changes in Health-Related Quality of Life and Emotional Outcomes in Kidney Transplantation over 6 Years,” Journal of Transplantation, Vol. 2011, Article ID: 671571, 12 p.
doi:10.1155/2011/671571
[3]
L. Westlie, P. Fauchald, T. Talseth, A. Jakobsen and A. Flatmark, “Quality of Life in Norwegian Kidney Donors,” Nephrology, Dialysis, Transplantation, Vol. 8, No. 10, 1993, pp. 1146-1150.
[4]
E. M. Johnson, J. K. Anderson, C. Jacobs, et al., “Long-Term Follow-Up of Living Kidney Donors: Quality of Life after Donation,” Transplantation, Vol. 67, No. 5, 1999, pp. 717-721.
doi:10.1097/00007890-199903150-00013
[5]
W. de Graaf Olson and A. Bogetti-Dumlao, “Living Donors’ Perception of Their Quality of Health after Donation,” Progress in Transplantation, Vol. 11, No. 2, 2001, pp. 108-115.
[6]
S. Isotani, M. Fujisawa, Y. Ichikawa, et al., “Quality of Life of Living Kidney Donors: The Short-Form 36-Item Health Questionnaire Survey,” Urology, Vol. 60, No. 4, 2002, pp. 588-592. doi:10.1016/S0090-4295(02)01865-4
[7]
M. Giessing, S. Reuter, B. Sch?nberger, et al., “Quality of Life of Living Kidney Donors in Germany: A Survey with the Validated Short Form-36 and Giessen Subjective Complaints List-24 Questionnaires,” Transplantation, Vol. 78, No. 6, 2004, pp. 864-872.
doi:10.1097/01.TP.0000133307.00604.86
[8]
A. Shresta, A. Shresta, C. Vallance, et al., “Quality of Living Kidney Donors: A Single-Center Experience,” Transplantation Proceedings, Vol. 40, No. 5, 2008, pp. 1375-1377. doi:10.1016/j.transproceed.2008.03.132
[9]
M. A. Dew, “Quality-of-Life Studies: Organ Transplantation Research as an Exemplar of Past Progress and Future Directions,” Journal of Psychosomatic Research, Vol. 44, No. 2, 1998, pp. 189-195.
[10]
G. Greif-Higer, E. Wandel, G. P. R. Otto, P. R. Galle and M. E. Beutel, “Psychological Conflicts between Relatives during the Long-Term Course after Successful Living Organ Donation,” Transplantation Proceedings, Vol. 40, No. 4, 2008, pp. 902-906.
doi:10.1016/j.transproceed.2008.03.040
[11]
J. Reimer, A. Rensing, C. Haasen, et al., “The Impact of Living-Related Kidney Transplantation on the Donor’s Life,” Transplantation, Vol. 81, No. 9, 2006, pp. 1268- 1273. doi:10.1097/01.tp.0000210009.96816.db
[12]
T. M. Gill and A. R. Feinstein, “A Critical Appraisal of the Quality of Quality-of-Life Measurements,” Journal of the American Medical Association, Vol. 272, No. 8, 1994, pp. 619-626. doi:10.1001/jama.1994.03520080061045
[13]
E. Diener and E. Suh, “Measuring Quality of Life: Economic, Social, and Subjective Indicators,” Social Indicators Research, Vol. 40, No. 1-2, 1997, pp. 189-216.
doi:10.1023/A:1006859511756
[14]
D. Joralemon and K. M. Fujinaga, “Studying the Quality of Life after Organ Transplantation: Research Problems and Solutions,” Social Sciences & Medicine, Vol. 44, No. 9, 1997, pp. 1259-1269.
doi:10.1016/S0277-9536(96)00256-0
[15]
E. Mergenthaler and C. Stinson, “Psychotherapy Transcription Standards,” Psychotherapy Research, Vol. 2, No. 2, 1992, pp. 125-142.
doi:10.1080/10503309212331332904
[16]
A. Strauss and J. Corbin, “Basics of Qualitative Research,” Sage, Thousand Oaks, 1990.
[17]
M. Weber, “Die ‘Objektivit?t’ Sozialwissenschaftlicher und Sozialpolitischer Erkenntnis,” In: J. Winckelmann, Ed., Gesammelte Schriften zur Wissenschaftslehre, 3rd edition, Mohr, Tübingen, 1968, pp. 146-214.
[18]
H. M. K?rrfelt, U. B. Berg, F. I. Lindblad and G. E. Tydén, “To Be or Not to Be a Living Donor: Questionnaire to Parents of Children Who Have Undergone Renal Transplantation,” Transplantation, Vol. 65, No. 7, 1998, pp. 915-918.
[19]
I. Fehrman-Ekholm, “Living Donor Kidney Transplantation,” Transplantation Proceedings, Vol. 38, No. 8, 2006, pp. 2637-2641. doi:10.1016/j.transproceed.2006.07.027
[20]
I. Fehrman-Ekholm, B. Brink, C. Ericsson, et al., “Kidney Donors Don’t Regret: Follow-Up of 370 Donors in Stockholm Since 1964,” Transplantation, Vol. 69, No. 10, 2000, pp. 2067-2071.
doi:10.1097/00007890-200005270-00016.
