Factors associated with health-related quality of life among kidney transplant recipients in Bhutan

Introduction: The health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of kidney transplant recipients (KTRs) is a crucial metric for assessing transplant outcomes. While HRQoL generally improves after kidney transplantation, KTRs often face significant HRQoL issues. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 100 KTRs by performing face-to-face interviews using a KTQ-25 tool in a tertiary care hospital. The tool included information about physical symptoms, fatigue, fear/uncertainty, appearance, and emotions of KTRs. The objective was to assess the influence of sociodemographic factors on the HRQoL of KTRs. Results: Out of 130 transplant recipients, 100 participated in this study, of which 48% were females. Hypertension was the cause of kidney failure in 53 participants. The overall mean±SD score of HRQoL was 4.3 ± 0.8, among which physical symptoms scored 4.9 ± 1.0, fatigue 4.4 ± 1.1, fear/uncertainty 4.2 ± 1.0, appearance 4.0 ± 1.3, and emotions 4.2 ± 1.4. Unemployment, long duration on dialysis, and donor relationship were significantly associated with the physical symptoms, emotions and uncertainty/fear (p value <0.05). Conclusion: The overall health-related quality of life of kidney transplant recipients was low, influenced by factors such as unemployment, extended periods on dialysis, and receiving kidneys from non-related donors. Similar research must be conducted among patients undergoing dialysis.