Background: A controlled living unrelated kidney donors (LURDs) transplant program has been started from 1988 in Iran. We surveyed LURDs to investigate the extent to which they experienced stressful life events before donation and their quality of life after donation.
Methods: Five hundred donors were approached. Donors were included in the study provided that donation had taken place at least 3 months before the study. Paykel Life Events Scale and The World Health Organization Quality of Life-Brief version (WHOQOL-Bref) were used in this study.
Results: Complete data were available for 424 (84.8%) donors. The mean age was 27.6+/-4.6 years and 84.4% of the participants were men. Ninety-five percent of the respondents reported having experienced at least one stressful life event during the 6 months before kidney donation. The three most frequently experienced life events were the increase in life expenses, low income, and household duties. The most stressful life events were job loss, financial problems, and death of a family member. The participants reported more stressful life events with a mean total stress score (112.6+/-75.0) double than the findings of a previous study in normal population. In all the four domains of WHOQOL-BREF, the participating donors scored lower than previously determined community norms.
Conclusion: We observed that the quality of life of Iranian LURDs may be low and they may be at risk of experiencing more stressful life events. To be most efficient, the health services should continue after donation and compensate for mental health and psychosocial problems as well.