Piloting Psychology Annual Reviews as a Method of Measuring Psychological Distress and Quality of Life in Paediatric Renal Transplant Patients

Abstract

Psychosocial distress and poorer quality of life after renal transplantation are common in children and young people. This has implications for medication adherence and survival. Posttransplant psychology annual reviews were introduced in one Paediatric Renal Service in the UK as a means of measuring psychological distress and quality of life, as well as facilitating identification of patients and parents/carers who would benefit from psychological intervention. The process of completing posttransplant psychology annual reviews is discussed within this paper. The posttransplant psychology annual review appointments identified patients experiencing depression and/or anxiety and problems in quality of life. These assessments have led to appropriate referrals to, and engagement with, the renal psychology service as well as with community tier 3 child and adolescent mental health services. The posttransplant psychology annual review will continue to be completed at this UK site and discussions will be undertaken with other paediatric renal transplant services to consider whether these could be introduced at a national level to facilitate collection of longitudinal data regarding long-term psychosocial impact of paediatric renal transplantation and its effect on quality of life.

Patient‐reported outcome measures within pediatric solid organ transplantation: A systematic review

“…The results of this systematic review show that PROMs are being used in the field of pediatric solid organ transplant . However, researchers advise that both generic and disease‐specific instruments are used to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of health status and overall QOL to generate more accurate depictions of a patient's health‐related QOL .…”

Quality of life in children with kidney transplant: Systematic review

“…The perception of QOL of children regardless of the treatment modality for ESKD was better compared to the evaluation of parents, especially in the areas of general fatigue, family and peer interaction and concern (7,8,(11)(12)(13)(14)16) . PedsQL data revealed that the concern parents present related to the social function of their children was not observed on the children themselves (8) .…”

“…The choice of instrument for assessing QOL during childhood must meet the criteria of reliability and understanding from the public. The instruments analyzed in this study are not available for use in Brazil and require translation and adaptation for the Portuguese language (8) .…”

“…All studies compared QOL of children with kidney transplant by comparing them with healthy peers (children) (7)(8)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16) .…”

“…Studies show that the higher the psychological suffering, the lower the adherence to treatment. On the other hand, there is a deficiency in the literature for studies that address the subject with regard to quality of life and the pediatric patient with kidney transplant in particular (8) .…”