The health related quality of life for kidney transplant patients in Bulgaria - A pilot study

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to analyze the pharmacotherapy cost and quality of life of patents after kidney transplantation compared to those with chronic kidney disease in Bulgaria. This retrospective pharmacotherapy cost study and prospective health related quality of life (QoL) study was performed during 2010 - 2011 at the biggest Sofia hospital serving all transplant patients. The cost of pharmacotherapy was analyzed after reviewing patients' records. The health related quality of life was evaluated with the multi-attributable questionnaire SF-36, which measures 9 health domains. Forty-two percent of the patients with chronic kidney disease, and 26% of those with kidney transplant were female. The average age of the transplanted patients was 39.7 for male patients and 42.2 for female ones, while in the group suffering from chronic kidney disease the average male age was 48.3 and that of female patients, 51.2. No statistically significant difference was observed among the mean monthly cost of therapy per patient during the two-year period. The QoL was with lower values in the role limitations domain for patients with chronic kidney diseases and this difference was statistically significant. We found a correlation among the mean cost of pharmacotherapy and mean QoL in both groups of patients. In the group of patients with kidney transplantation the place of living and general health state were positively correlated. The cost of pharmacotherapy and the health state in comparison with the previous year were also positively correlated. This is the first Bulgarian study of the quality of life of kidney transplant patients. It shows that the SF-36 could be successfully used in this group of patients as well as for comparison with the QoL of patients with chronic kidney disease.