Factors associated with health-related quality of life among kidney transplant recipients in Bhutan
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47811/bhj.181Keywords:
Bhutan; Health-Related Quality of Life; Kidney Transplantation; KTQ-25Abstract
Introduction: The health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of kidney transplant recipients (KTRs) is a crucial metric for assessing transplant outcomes. While HRQoL generally improves after kidney transplantation, KTRs often face significant HRQoL issues.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 100 KTRs by performing face-to-face interviews using a KTQ-25 tool in a tertiary care hospital. The tool included information about physical symptoms, fatigue, fear/uncertainty, appearance, and emotions of KTRs. The objective was to assess the influence of sociodemographic factors on the HRQoL of KTRs.
Results: Out of 130 transplant recipients, 100 participated in this study, of which 48% were females. Hypertension was the cause of kidney failure in 53 participants. The overall mean±SD score of HRQoL was 4.3 ± 0.8, among which physical symptoms scored 4.9 ± 1.0, fatigue 4.4 ± 1.1, fear/uncertainty 4.2 ± 1.0, appearance 4.0 ± 1.3, and emotions 4.2 ± 1.4. Unemployment, long duration on dialysis, and donor relationship were significantly associated with the physical symptoms, emotions and uncertainty/fear (p value <0.05).
Conclusion: The overall health-related quality of life of kidney transplant recipients was low, influenced by factors such as unemployment, extended periods on dialysis, and receiving kidneys from non-related donors. Similar research must be conducted among patients undergoing dialysis.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Choki Dorji, Tashi Tobgay, Kesara Na-Bangchang

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
BHJ allow to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of its articles and allow readers to use them for any other lawful purpose. The author(s) are allowed to retain publishing rights without restrictions.