Abstract
Background: Health related quality of life (HRQOL) is an important indicator of medical treatment and is a strong
predictor of disability and mortality. The literature has shown mixed evidence about whether kidney transplantation
improves HRQOL compared with other renal replacement modalities. The aim of this study was to compare the
HRQOL in kidney transplant recipients (KTRs) and hemodialysis (HD) patients.
Methods: A cross-sectional study of 100 KTRs and 272 HD patients from two central kidney units in the West Bank,
Palestine. The HRQOL was assessed using the Short Form-36 Health Survey. Multivariable linear regression was used
to estimate differences in mean HRQOL scores between KTRs and HD patients.
Results: As compared to HD patients, KTRs had higher clinically important HRQOL in main domains and subscales
of the SF-36 including physical functioning, role-physical, bodily pain, general health, vitality, social functioning, roleemotional,
mental health, ranging between 15.5 for social functioning (95% Confidence Interval (CI) 10.1, 20.7) to
32.6 for general health (95% CI 24.0, 41.1).
Conclusions: We found that KTRs have better HRQOL than HD patients in physical and mental components of the
SF-36 scale including physical functioning, role-physical, bodily pain, general health, vitality, social functioning, role emotional,
and mental health. Further longitudinal research comparing HRQOL among KTRs and the general population may identify key modifiable factors associated with lower HRQOL among KTRs that are amenable to
intervention.
Keywords: Quality of life, Renal Dialysis, Kidney transplantation, Cross-sectional studies

Title

BMC Nephrology

Publisher

BMC

Publisher Country

United Kingdom

Indexing

Scopus

Impact Factor

2.0

Publication Type

Both (Printed and Online)

Volume

210

Year

25

Pages

7