Predicted and actual quality of life changes following renal transplantation

Abstract

An exploratory-descriptive design was used to examine quality of life (QoL) changes in this follow-up study of renal transplant recipients 16-26 months after transplantation. Of 57 patients interviewed for the original study conducted at transplantation, 39 were interviewed. Interviews included demographic information, open-ended QoL questions, and identification of positive and negative QoL changes. T-test examined differences between pretransplant QoL expectations and post-transplant QoL changes. McNemar's Test determined the categories where changes were more correctly anticipated. Results indicate that although staff more accurately anticipate the degree to which patients' QoL changes, patients more accurately anticipate the types of changes that occur.