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Change in the quality of life of caregivers of pediatric department patients undergoing kidney transplantation: a single-center prospective study

Clinical and Experimental Nephrology volume 22, pages 1198–1204 (2018)Cite this article

Abstract

Background

Caregivers of patients with chronic kidney disease experience great burdens. Changes in these caregivers’ quality of life (QOL) before and after their children underwent kidney transplantation (KTx) were evaluated in this prospective study.

Methods

The sequential QOL scores of 31 caregivers (median age 38.5 years) whose children (5.8 years) underwent KTx from 2012 to 2014 were studied. The same questionnaires were administered before and 1, 3, and 12 months after KTx. We evaluated whether the following factors were associated with QOL: pre-transplant dialysis, recipient’s mental and/or motor disability, and acute rejection or infections after KTx.

Results

The average QOL score before KTx (3.40) was higher than that of the general population (3.23). Despite a temporal decrease at 1 month (3.15), the final QOL scores were maintained at 3 months (3.40) and 1 year (3.42) after KTx. The mean QOL scores were significantly higher for caregivers of patients with than without dialysis before KTx [3.46 vs. 3.28 (p = 0.041) at 3 months and 3.53 vs. 3.18 (p = 0.001) at 1 year, respectively]. Conversely, these scores were significantly lower for caregivers of patients with than without disabilities [2.97 vs. 3.20 (p = 0.021) at 1 month, 3.18 vs. 3.46 (p = 0.006) at 3 months, and 3.10 vs. 3.50 (p = 0.001) at 1 year, respectively].

Conclusion

Dialysis of children before KTx was a particularly larger burden for caregivers. The child’s comorbidities and social adaptation problems might be focused after KTx, we need to evaluate for more long-term QOL of caregivers.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Angela Morben, DVM, and ELS from Edanz Group (http://www.edanzediting.com/ac) for editing a draft of this manuscript.

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Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatric Nephrology, Toho University Faculty of Medicine, 6-11-1, Omori-Nishi, Ota-ku, Tokyo, 143-8541, Japan

    Yuko Hamasaki, Yusuke Takahashi, Junya Hashimoto & Seiichiro Shishido

  2. Department of Psychology, Toho University Faculty of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan

    Tetsuo Yamaguchi & Miyako Tazaki

  3. Department of Nephrology, Toho University Faculty of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan

    Yuko Hamasaki, Yusuke Takahashi, Junya Hashimoto, Masaki Muramatsu, Takeshi Kawamura, Ken Sakai & Seiichiro Shishido

Authors
  1. Yuko Hamasaki
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  2. Tetsuo Yamaguchi
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  3. Yusuke Takahashi
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  4. Junya Hashimoto
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  5. Masaki Muramatsu
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  6. Takeshi Kawamura
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  7. Ken Sakai
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  8. Seiichiro Shishido
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  9. Miyako Tazaki
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Correspondence to Yuko Hamasaki.

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Conflict of interest

Yuko Hamasaki belongs to an endowed department sponsored by Asahi Kasei Pharma Corporation, Novartis Pharma K.K., Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., and Astellas Pharma. Ken Sakai received annual consultant fees from JMS Co. Ltd. The other authors have no potential conflicts of interest to disclose.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. The study was approved by a central ethics board at Toho University Omori Medical Center, the principal investigator’s institution (approval number: 24-124).

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Hamasaki, Y., Yamaguchi, T., Takahashi, Y. et al. Change in the quality of life of caregivers of pediatric department patients undergoing kidney transplantation: a single-center prospective study. Clin Exp Nephrol 22, 1198–1204 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10157-018-1604-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10157-018-1604-0

Keywords

  • Children
  • Caregivers
  • Quality of life
  • Kidney transplant