Korean J Psychosom Med.  2023 Dec;31(2):43-49. 10.22722/KJPM.2023.31.2.43.

Psychosocial Pre-Transplant Assessment of Living Kidney Donors

• Lee AR
• Baik M
• Lee SM
• Kang WS
• Park JK

• KMID: 2550615
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.22722/KJPM.2023.31.2.43

Abstract

In Korea, the dependence on living donations is high due to the shortage of organs available for donation compared to the number of people waiting for transplants and the number of living organ donations continues to increase. In particular, the number of living-donor transplantations is high worldwide, highlighting the importance of pre-transplant psychosocial evaluation of living kidney donors. According to previous studies, when evaluating living organ donors before transplantation, it is crucial to determine whether the donor can give informed consent and be aware of the risks after surgery. Pre-transplant evaluation tests such as ELPAT living organ donor Psychological Assessment Tool (EPAT), Live Donor Assessment Tool (LDAT), Living Donation Expectancies Questionnaire (LDEQ), Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 questionnaire (MMPI-2) and Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) are conducted for donors. After reviewing the literature on these pre-transplant psychosocial assessment tools, we will also look at legal considerations for living kidney donors in Korea and suggest an effective and essential pre-transplant screening evaluation method for living kidney transplant donors.

Keyword

Kidney transplantation; Living kidney donors; Psychosocial; Pre-transplant evaluation.