Kidney donation does not lower quality of life

Kidney donors appear to experience a decline in their health-related quality of life (HRQoL) immediately after surgery, although HRQoL returns to pre-donation levels by 6 months and may even be better than that of the general population, according to a meta-analysis.

Researchers searched multiple online databases for studies in which the impact of living kidney donation on HRQoL among donors was explored. Primary outcomes included the 36-item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) and its composite mental component summary (MCS) and physical component summary (PCS). These measures were used to compare postdonation HRQoL with predonation levels and with the HRQoL of the general population.

A total of 73 studies involving 14,474 donors met the inclusion criteria and were included in the meta-analysis. Pooled data showed that the MCS scores did not significantly change at 3, 6, or 12 or more months after donation relative to baseline.

On the other hand, the PCS scores were significantly lower at 3 months after donation than before donation (standardized mean difference, −0.38, 95 percent CI, −0.72 to −0.05; p=0.02), although this decline did not persist at 6 or 12 months.

Overall, HRQoL scores of donors after donation were comparable to or better than those of healthy controls, recipients, patients who underwent a nephrectomy, and patients receiving maintenance dialysis.

These findings provide reassurance to potential living kidney donors, showing that HRQoL is preserved after donation.

The meta-analysis was limited by potential heterogeneity in study populations and outcomes, a limited number of studies for certain comparisons, and methodological weaknesses of especially older studies, among others.