Positive and negative aspects of mental health after unspecified living kidney donation: A cohort study

Abstract

Objectives. Unspecified donors give a kidney to a stranger with end-stage kidney failure. There has been little research on the long-term impact of unspecified donation on mental health outcomes. The aim of this study was to assess the positive and negative aspects of mental health among unspecified donors.Design. We invited all unspecified donors who donated a kidney between 2000 and 2016 at our centre to participate in an interview and to complete validated questionnaires. Methods. We measured positive mental health using the Dutch Mental Health Continuum-Short Form (MHC-SF), psychological complaints using the Symptoms Checklist-90 (SCL-90) and psychiatric diagnoses using the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (M.I.N.I.) Screen for all donors and the M.I.N.I. Plus on indication.Results. Of the 134 eligible donors, 114 participated (54% female; median age 66 years), a median of 6 years post-donation. Scores on emotional and social wellbeing subscales of the MHC-SF were significantly higher than in the general population. Psychological symptoms were comparable to the general population. Thirty-two per cent of donors had a current or lifetime psychiatric diagnosis. Psychological symptoms did not significantly change between the pre-donation screening and the post-donation study.Conclusions. We concluded that, with the appropriate screening, unspecified donation is a safe procedure from a psychological perspective. Statement of contributionWhat is already known on this subject?Among the majority of living related (non-anonymous) donors, mental health returns to baseline within 3 to 12 months after donation.This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.

Twenty Years of Unspecified Kidney Donation: Unspecified Donors Looking Back on Their Donation Experiences

“…Nevertheless, it has also been reported that the donation was experienced as life interrupting or as a source of interpersonal stress (8)(9)(10)(11)(12). In addition, some UKDs complained about the intensity and length of the donor assessment procedure and the long waiting time before the actual donation (9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14). Although the aforementioned studies have provided reassuring evidence with regard to the experiences of UKDs, they cannot simply be generalized to the Netherlands, because of different healthcare systems across countries.…”

Exploring Staff Attitudes Towards Unspecified Kidney Donors in the United Kingdom: Results From the BOUnD Study

“…Whilst there is not a strong body of evidence affirming the psychological wellbeing of UKDrs, neither is there evidence of an underlying psychopathology. Previous research demonstrates that UKDrs have positive outcomes [ 34 ] and equivalent psychological outcomes to SKDrs [ 9 , 35 ]. Motives are honourable, however the evidence to date for the personal benefit of UKD is mixed [ 36 ], and studies reporting benefits are mainly retrospective [ 37 ].…”

A Contemporary Analysis of Mental Well-being Among Living Donor Kidney Applicants

“… 12 , 13 Few studies have assessed donor characteristics that are associated with worse mental health outcomes postdonation, 14 and there has been a noted decrease in mental health-related quality of life 3 mo after donation with a trend toward baseline by approximately 12 mo after donation. 15 , 16 Furthermore, there are limited data that characterize the mental health of living donors predonation, 14 , 16 , 17 and no data describing the mental health of prospective living donor applicants. It is important to consider the self-reported mental health conditions that applicants report on their intake screening forms, such as anxiety and depression, as well as the medications they report taking.…”