Research Activities, September 2010: Chronic Disease: Being overweight does not have a negative impact on quality of life after a kidney transplant

Chronic Disease
Being overweight does not have a negative impact on quality of life after a kidney transplant

Nearly 60 percent of patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) who are waiting for a new kidney are overweight and about 30 percent are considered obese. Studies have shown that being overweight or obese does not affect survival after a kidney transplant. Now a new study finds being overweight or obese also does not affect physical health-related quality of life (HRQOL) after kidney transplantation. Researchers studied 464 adults who had a kidney transplant at an academic medical center between 1998 and 2008. Patients were asked about their health-related quality of life in eight areas of functioning and well-being. These included scales such as bodily pain, the feeling of vitality, emotional and mental health, their physical functioning, and how well they were functioning socially. Prior to their transplant, 154 patients were normal weight, 192 were overweight, and 118 were obese.

No negative association was found between pretransplant overweight or obesity and HRQOL after transplant. Patients who had a kidney transplant before beginning dialysis had substantially better post-transplant HRQOL. Also, patients who did not require pretransplant dialysis and those managed with a corticosteroid-avoidance protocol to suppress the immune system (so that it would not reject the new kidney) were considerably more likely to achieve physical HRQOL scores comparable with those of the general population. The study was supported in part by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (HS13833).

See "Pre-transplant overweight and obesity do not affect physical quality of life after kidney transplantation," by Victor Zaydfudim, M.D., M.P.H., Irene D. Feurer, Ph.D., Deonna R. Moore, M.S.N., A.C.N.P., and others in the March 2010 Journal of the American College of Surgeons, 210(3), pp. 336-344.

Research Activities, September 2010: Chronic Disease: Being overweight does not have a negative impact on quality of life after a kidney transplant