ABSTRACT
The purpose of the study was to determine whether factors, including knowledge about living kidney donation or acquaintance with a donor or recipient, are related to willingness to consider donating a kidney. Participants were randomly assigned to read (n = 78) or not read (n = 71) educational materials regarding living donation. All participants then completed a living donation knowledge quiz, indicated whether they knew a donor or recipient, and indicated their support for living donation. Knowledge was not related to willingness to consider donation. Acquaintance with a living donor predicated greater willingness to act as a non-directed living donor, as did acquaintance with a transplant recipient. Decisions regarding whether to consider acting as a living organ donor may be related to whether a person is acquainted with an organ donor or a recipient. Emphasizing personal connections to transplant may lead to increased acceptance of living donation.
Subject(s)
Attitude to Health , Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice , Kidney Transplantation/psychology , Living Donors/psychology , Tissue and Organ Procurement/methods , Unrelated Donors/psychology , Adult , Education, Nursing, Continuing , Female , Humans , Kidney Transplantation/trends , Living Donors/statistics & numerical data , Male , Midwestern United States , Surveys and Questionnaires , Young AdultABSTRACT
The comorbidity of psychological disorders with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) presents challenges for renal transplantation, including increased likelihood of medication noncompliance and poorer quality of life. Estimates of rates and severity of affective and anxiety disorders have varied significantly across studies of renal transplant patients, possibly due in part to variation in the methodology and timing of evaluations. To this point, few researchers have examined the psychological condition of patients who are newly referred for renal transplantation. This study examined rates of psychological distress using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ) in a sample of 518 ESRD patients at the specific time point of first contact with the transplant center. In this sample, 15.1% of patients endorsed symptoms consistent with a depressive condition and 7.6% of patients endorsed an anxiety condition. These rates were lower than expected, which may be due to decreased distress in this sample, selection biases, or underreporting of symptoms due to patients' motivation to present themselves positively.
