Presentation (CTI)

OBJECTIVES: Kidney transplantation recipients may develop, or continue to experience, complications and comorbidities post-transplant, resulting in impaired quality of life. We aimed to explore patient-reported quality of life outcomes post-kidney transplant in the United States (US).
METHODS: Data were drawn from the Adelphi Real World Kidney Transplant Disease Specific Programme™, a cross-sectional survey of nephrologists and kidney transplant recipients in the US from September 2024 - April 2025. Nephrologists reported patient demographics for six consecutively consulting patients. Patients completed the Kidney Disease Quality of Life 36-item (KDQOL-36) and Work Productivity and Activity Impairment (WPAI). Regression analyses were performed to assess the relationship between time since transplant, and KDQOL scores.
RESULTS: Forty-one physicians provided data for 282 patients. Mean (standard deviation; SD) patient age was 53.2 (12.6) years and 60.0% were male. Mean (SD) time since transplant was 3.0 (4.8) years. Overall, 38.3% of patients were ≤1 year post-transplant, 29.4% were >1 - <2 years, 14.5% were >2 - <4 years, and 17.7% were ≥4 years. Mean (SD) activity impairment was 31.9% (22.0%) for patients ≤1 year post-transplant, 16.9% (19.7%) for patients >1 - <2 years, 12.0% (12.3%) for patients >2 - <4 years, and 29.6% (31.3%) for patients ≥4 years post-transplant. Among all patients >1 year post-transplant, regression analyses showed that as time since transplant increased by 1 year, KDQOL-36 symptom/problems scores decreased by -0.59, physical health composite scores by -0.58, and mental health composite scores by -0.38 (all p≤0.05).
CONCLUSIONS: Kidney transplantation does not eliminate long-term patient burden. Recipients continue to experience impairments in physical health, mental health, and daily functioning beyond the first year post-transplant, underscoring the need for sustained, long-term post-transplant care and monitoring.