Mental Distress Symptoms and Life Satisfaction Among Living Kidney Donors: Frequency and Association With Subjective Evaluations

The aims of this study were to (1) determine psychological states and wellbeing of living kidney donors and (2) assess their interaction and association with subjective evaluations of donors. This retrospective, cross-sectional study was conducted with 208 living kidney donors (123 women; 59.1%), aged between 22 and 79 years (48.74 ± 11.78) who underwent a nephrectomy between 2006 and 2017. All donors were evaluated face-to-face. The sociodemographic data collection form, a 4-question survey developed by researchers for subjective evaluations, the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), and Contentment with Life Assessment Scale (CLAS) were administered. Only few donors, 3.8% and 7.2% respectively, were above the clinical cut off scores of the BDI and BAI. This was equivalent to the normal population. Eighty percent of respondents were satisfied with life. Only 5 donors (2.4%) claimed to have any regrets about their experience and scored higher for depression and lower for life satisfaction (P