Psychosocial well-being after kidney transplantation: A matched-pair case-control study

Abstract

A number of outcome studies showed that kidney transplantation is associated with improvements in health-related quality of life relative to the pre-transplant period, but comparisons with the general population produced mixed results. This study aimed to compare 30 successful (>1 year) kidney transplantation recipients with 30 matched-pair healthy controls on psychosocial well-being. Independent of gender, age and time since transplantation, transplanted patients equalled healthy people in the intrapersonal domains but scored worse in the interpersonal domains of psychosocial well-being. Identifying aspects of life that remain impaired after kidney transplantation may assist the development of interventions targeted at improving patients’ adjustment.