Evaluation of physical performance and quality of life among patients with previous kidney transplantation: A Cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: While patients with kidney conditions have been reported to predominantly have concerns about their quality of life, most of the studies comparing the different kidney replacement therapy alternatives have been focused on patients and graft survival while patient reported QoL outcomes are either underreported or completely ignored in patients with kidney transplantation. It is important to have a full understanding of the post-transplantation QoL and physical performance changes over time. Therefore, the aims of this study are to assess the physical performance of patients after kidney transplantation as well as their perceived quality of life. Methodology: This is a cross sectional study that was conducted among patients with CKD who underwent kidney transplantation in the last 10 years in Jeddah region, Saudi Arabia using a self-reported questionnaire which was distributed online among the patients. The questionnaire included the instrument of the World Health Organization, World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL-Bref), composed of 26 questions. Of these, two questions assess the overall perception of QOL and general health, and the others are divided into four domains: physical, psychological, social relationships and environment. Results: In this study, we were able to collect data from 67 patients who reported undergoing kidney transplantation during the last ten years. Among the patients, 56.7 % of them were males while 37.3 % of the patients were older than 50 years old and 7.5 % were younger than 30 years old. According to WHOQOL-BREF used in this study, we found that the mean score of the overall QoL was 13.15 and physical health domain was 13.09 (out of 20). Moreover, the higher the educational level of the patients, the better the quality of life they reported, significantly (P=0.004), and the same considering monthly income where those with higher monthly income reported better scores (P=0.001). Living with family also has a significant positive impact on the scores of QoL with mean score of 13.9 compared with 12.3 in those living alone (P=0.001). Conclusion: This study showed that patients who underwent kidney transplantation showed good QoL and physical health when compared to the literature review of patients on hemodialysis. Higher educational level, living with family, having higher income and no need for hemodialysis after the surgery were associated significantly with better QoL. Key words: physical performance, QOL, kidney transplantation