Background: More than other operations on the body, organ transplantation has a psychological resonance relating to the self and body image representation, both in donors and in recipients. In the medical literature there are many psychopathological patterns related to ESRD and to the changes in psychologic assessment and lifestyle after transplantation. Similar changes have been found in living donors.
Methods: Forty-eight donor-recipient couples were evaluated before and 4 months after transplantation, using clinical interview, according to the DSM IV TR criteria; The structured Interview for renal transplantation, both for recipients and for donors; psychodiagnostic tests: mini-mental state; Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression; Hamilton Anxiety Scale; Self-Rating Anxiety Scale; Short-Form 36 Health Survey Questionnaire.
Results: Comparisons by paired Students t tests showed a significant Hamilton depression variation among recipients, with improvement in the gained score and reduction of depressive symptom (Hamilton score >7) frequency from 45.8% to 32%, and a decreased proportion of patients with a score >18 from 16.4% to 0%. There was no significant Hamilton Depression variation among donors, but there was somehow a reduction in depressive symptom frequency (Hamilton score >7) from 37.5% to 33.3% and a decrease among >18 scores from 12.6% to 0% patients.
Conclusions: Living donor kidney transplantation did not adversely affect the lives of donors and significantly improved many aspects of the lives of recipients. However, physical and psychological aspects may be impaired by living donation. Careful donor selection, with appropriate pretransplantation psychiatric consulting, allows those with a normal life quality to donate without consequence to their physical or psychological status.