Quality of Life in Kidney Donors: A Single-Center Experience

Background: Living kidney donation is used to treat ESRD, but it poses risks and decision-making challenges for donors. This study examines kidney donors' long-term quality of life (QOL). Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey on kidney donors between 1982 and 2018. We used the SF-36 (Arabic version) to measure the donors' quality of life (QOL). Out of 60 donors contacted, 44 agreed to participate and responded. Demographic information, donor-recipient relationships, and specific questions about the donation were collected and analyzed. Results: The mean age of the donors was 50.1 ± 11.7 years at follow-up, and 26 (59.1%) were males. Most donors were siblings and parents, accounting for 36.4% (n=16) each. The time since the donation was 111.5 ± 97.1 months. All donors decided voluntarily to donate and all of them would do it again if given a chance. However, one donor (2.3%) complained that the donation had caused problems in his marriage, while 6 donors (13.4%) experienced clinically relevant distress, and 2 donors (4.5%) experienced financial disadvantages. Donors had high QOL scores, with a mean score of 73.1 and 96.9 (on a scale of 1-100) for the 8 subscales. The highest score was for role social functioning, while the lowest was for Energy/Fatigue. The mean scores for the four fatigue subscales were low, ranging from 61.8 to 86.8. The lowest score was for feeling calm and reassured, while the highest was for feeling frustrated. In social functioning, the highest score was for the effect of mental health on work performance (97.2). We analyzed various demographic factors and their correlation with QOL and found no significant correlation in most domains regarding sociodemographic characteristics. Conclusion: Our research indicates that most kidney donors have had a positive experience over the past four decades. Both male and female donors of all ages reported good long-term quality of life, further enhanced by recognition and support from their families and friends. These findings provide further support for our current policy on organ donation.