Korean J Transplant.  2023 Nov;37(Suppl 1):S60. 10.4285/ATW2023.F-6369.

Quality of life and related factors in renal transplant patients at 108 Military Central Hospital

• Thi Kim DN
• Thi Thu HT
• Trung HH
• Thi NL
• Cong KN

• KMID: 2551647
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4285/ATW2023.F-6369

Abstract

Background
Posttransplantation care is a long-term and challenging process for both patients and caregivers, physically and mentally. However, there are still few studies on the factors that affect these patients’ quality of life (QoL). Therefore, it is necessary to explore the factors related to the QoL of patients after kidney transplantation.
Methods
A cross-sectional study was conducted on kidney transplant patients who had at least 3 months posttransplantation and were followed up at 108 Central Military Hospital from January 2019 to June 2022. Demographic characteristics of patients were collected through a structured questionnaire. Their QoL was assessed based on the self-reported SF-36 scale. Logistic regression analysis determined the association between the QoL and other factors.
Results
The study included 112 patients with an average age of 45.7 years, 43 patients (38.4%) over 50, and 85 males (75.9%). Of patients with a normal body mass index, 68.7% resided in Hanoi, and 32.1% were cadres/employees. The scores of four do-mains in the physical health component were: general health (54.4), the role of physical health (81.3), physical functioning (57.8) and body pain (77.3). The scores of four domains in the mental health component were: mental health (67.4), the role of emotion (64.9), vitality (61.3) and social functioning (70.2). The QoL of patients after kidney transplantation reached 68.4. Factors such as age (odds ratio [OR], 0.81; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.36–1.86); sex (OR, 1.82; 95% CI, 0.74–4.51), current residence (OR, 0.7; 95% CI, 0.31–1.58); occupation (OR, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.40–2.25) were not related to the QoL of patients after kidney transplantation.
Conclusions
Most patients had a moderate and high quality of life. The study did not find any demographic characteristics that affected QoL. Further study with a large sample size should be done to support the improvement and enhancement of effective patient care in the future.