Quality of Life among Renal Transplant Recipients in Bahrain: A Single-Center Experience

Abstract

Although a positive effect of renal transplantation on quality of life (QOL) scores was demonstrated in numerous international studies, there are a few studies in renal transplant recipients in Arabic countries. The purpose of this study was to assess the QOL in renal transplant recipients in Bahrain. We used the standard QOL Index (QOLI) score instrument in Arabic languages. This study included 58 patients, aged 26–71 years, and 63.8% of them were males. We excluded patients below 18 years old and failed renal transplant at the time of the study. The highest QOL score was in the psychological/spiritual domain (87.4 ± 12.2), followed by the family domain (85.5 ± 13.1), the health and functioning domain (82.7 ± 13.3), and the social and economic domain (80.5 ± 13.9). There was a highly significant high positive correlation between the QOLI and each of the tested domains (P <0.001). Married participants had a significantly higher QOL score in the family domain, compared to unmarried participants (P = 0.025). The QOL scores in the health and functioning domain were significantly affected by the patient’s social status, residence, and coexisting diabetes mellitus. In addition, the QOLI scores were significantly greater among patients who did their transplants in Bahrain (P = 0.045). Most of the renal transplant patients in Bahrain are satisfied with their QOL. Their QOL was also variably impacted by the different sociodemographic and clinical factors.