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Influence of economic and demographic factors on quality of life in renal transplant recipients
Author(s) -
Chisholm Marie A.,
Spivey Christina A.,
Nus Audrey Van
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
clinical transplantation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.918
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1399-0012
pISSN - 0902-0063
DOI - 10.1111/j.1399-0012.2007.00640.x
Subject(s) - medicine , psychological intervention , marital status , demography , quality of life (healthcare) , stepwise regression , logistic regression , gerontology , population , environmental health , nursing , psychiatry , sociology
Background: The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of annual income, Medicare status, and demographic variables on the health‐related quality of life (HQoL) of renal transplant recipients. Methods: A cross‐sectional survey was mailed to 146 Georgia renal transplant recipients who had functional grafts. Data were collected using the SF‐12 Health Survey (version 2), a demographics survey, and 2003 tax documents. One‐way ANOVAs and Pearson's R correlations were used to examine relationships between annual income, Medicare status, demographic variables and SF‐12 scores. Significant variables were included in stepwise multiple regression analyses. Results: Data from 130 participants (89% response rate) were collected. Recipients with no Medicare coverage had significantly higher scores on the Physical Functioning and Role Physical SF‐12 scales (p = 0.005) compared to recipients with Medicare. Annual income was positively correlated with General Health (p < 0.05). Age and race were significant predictors of Vitality (p = 0.004) and Physical Component Summary (p < 0.001) scores. Age, race, and Medicare status were significant predictors of Physical Functioning and Role Physical scores (p < 0.001). Age, annual income, race, and years post‐transplant were significant predictors of General Health score (p < 0.001). Age was the sole predictor of Bodily Pain score (p = 0.002), and marital status was the sole predictor of Social Functioning score (p = 0.005). Conclusions: Interventions designed to offset financial barriers may be needed to bolster renal transplant recipients’ HQoL.