Background: Live donor kidney transplantation is a procedure conducted with proven efficacy and safety for its recipients, although the post-operative outcome of the donors has been subjected to little investigation.
Methods: This study assessed 100 donors (34 men and 66 women) for kidney transplants conducted at the Hospital of Clinics of the Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil in a post-operative period longer than 2 years. The quality of life evaluation was performed according to the SF-36 health survey.
Results: The quality of life of donors, especially female ones, was equal to or higher than the quality of life of the control group with respect to all the parameters of the short-form health survey. The main complaints were dissatisfaction with the medical service (31%) and with the aspect of the scar (24%). Six percent of the donors regretted the donation and the relationship of 13% of the donors with the recipient of the transplant deteriorated. The rates of overweight and obesity were larger than the Brazilian people averages. The frequency of arterial hypertension did not differ from the average of the Brazilian population, although half of these patients did not previously know their blood pressure levels.
Conclusions: The quality of life of kidney donors was not different than it was for the healthy individuals of the community, although there were variations among donor subgroups. There was dissatisfaction related to the medical service and over the surgical scar, in addition to prevalence of obesity and arterial hypertension above the expectancy.