Psychological factors of successful kidney transplantations. The effects of anxiety and intrapsychic integration of the organ on recovery

Abstract

Transplant patients' attitudes and representations related to their illness, their body, and the healing process have a significant impact on their recovery. The study involved 51 patients from the Department of Surgery, University of Szeged, Hungary. The primary aim was to examine the possible connections between emotional and mood factors, illness and body representations, and the successful onset of renal functions after surgery. Patients were tested with a combination of 4 instruments: Spielberger's anxiety scale and Beck depression scale, self and organ drawings, and a questionnaire designed by the authors. Our data suggest that high distress correlates with kidney disfunction after transplantation. Patients with higher anxiety drew the kidney larger in their projective drawing test. It was a remarkable result that post-transplant blood test on Day 10 showed significantly lower creatinine and urea levels in those patients who had drawn the kidney smaller in their projective drawing test. This might indicate that the organ's normal intrapsychic integration and the related kidney functions are disturbed. The results of this study provide useful information about the psychological background, which has received relatively little attention so far. It can also give important clues for further research on clinical health psychology in supporting the healing process.