Determination of Health Anxiety Level in Living Organ Donation

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the level of pre-donation health anxiety using the Short Form Health Anxiety Inventory (SHAI) questionnaire for persons who applied to donate their kidney to a relative in need, and to evaluate whether there was a difference between these donors and a control group who did not experience health problems. The study group was comprised of 30 patients who applied for kidney donation to a relative, while the control group was comprised of 30 age- and sex-adjusted healthy subjects whose relatives did not have any health problems. The SHAI, consisting of 18 questions and some sociodemographic characteristics, was administered to both groups. The study group consisted of 60 participants, 28 (46.7%) of whom were male and 32 (53.3%) of whom were female. The mean SHAI score of the case group was 10.3 ± 7.3, while the mean of the control group was 17.6 ± 8.5. The difference between the groups was statistically significant (P = .001). The mean score of those who were donating to their wife or husband was 20.0 ± 11.7, while the mean score of those who donated to other relatives was 9.2 ± 6.1. The difference was significant (P = .014). Our study found that the case group had significantly lower health anxiety than the control group. Furthermore, those who were donating to their spouse were found to have higher anxiety than those who were donating to other relatives.