Open AccessDevelopment and validation of a questionnaire to assess fear of kidney failure following living donation
Author(s) -
Rodrigue James R.,
Fleishman Aaron,
Vishnevsky Tanya,
Whiting James,
Vella John P.,
Garrison Krista,
Moore Deonna,
Kayler Liise,
Baliga Prabhakar,
Chavin Kenneth D.,
Karp Seth,
Mandelbrot Didier A.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
transplant international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.998
H-Index - 82
eISSN - 1432-2277
pISSN - 0934-0874
DOI - 10.1111/tri.12299
Subject(s) - medicine , anxiety , kidney transplantation , kidney donation , kidney , kidney transplant , nephrology , clinical psychology , psychiatry
Summary Living kidney donors ( LKD s) may feel more anxious about kidney failure now that they have only one kidney and the security of a second kidney is gone. The aim of this cross‐sectional study was to develop and empirically validate a self‐report scale for assessing fear of kidney failure in former LKD s. Participants were 364 former LKD s within the past 10 years at five US transplant centers and 219 healthy nondonor controls recruited through Mechanical Turk who completed several questionnaires. Analyses revealed a unidimensional factor structure, excellent internal consistency (α = 0.88), and good convergent validity for the Fear of Kidney Failure questionnaire. Only 13% of former donors reported moderate to high fear of kidney failure. Nonwhite race ( OR = 2.9, P = 0.01), genetic relationship with the recipient ( OR = 2.46, P = 0.04), and low satisfaction with the donation experience ( OR = 0.49, P = 0.002) were significant predictors of higher fear of kidney failure. We conclude that while mild anxiety about kidney failure is common, high anxiety about future renal failure among former LKD s is uncommon. The Fear of Kidney Failure questionnaire is reliable, valid, and easy to use in the clinical setting.