Postoperative Health Anxiety and Quality of Life in Kidney Donors

Objective: In this study, it was aimed to examine the sociodemographic data, health anxiety levels, and quality of life of donors who underwent unilateral nephrectomy for organ donation in the Organ Transplantation Unit of Ataturk University Medical Faculty and were followed up in the nephrology outpatient clinic.

Methods: Thirty donors who had undergone unilateral nephrectomy for transplantation and were followed up since 2004 were taken to the study. The Short Form-36 scale was used to assess the donors’ quality of life. The results were compared with predetermined values in Turkish population. Health concerns were measured with the Health Anxiety Inventory. IBM’s Statistical Pacakge for Social Sciences (V.21) package program was used in the analysis.

Results: In kidney donors, sub-scores of physical function, physical role difficulty, pain, social function, and emotional role difficulty were lower than the average of the Turkish population mean values. There was no difference between the donors and Turkish population mean scores in general health, mental health, and vitality. Health anxiety was higher in donors than healthy volunteers.

Conclusion: The quality of life in donors was lower than the standard values of Turkish population, and health concerns were higher than those of the healthy volunteers.

Cite this article as: Mutlu, M., Özcan, H., & Üstündağ, M. F. (2023). Postoperative health anxiety and quality of life in kidney donors. Journal of Midwifery and Health Sciences, 6(2), 110-115.