Abstract

BACKGROUND: Informed consent of prospective donors should include information about the quality of life (QoL) of existing donors, especially those within the relevant country. This study aimed to provide information on Malaysian organ donors’ QoL relative to a control group.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: Using a shorter version of the SF-36, QoL of 80 donors from the University of Malaya Medical Center (UMMC), Malaysia was surveyed and compared to QoL of 80 selected healthy individuals. ANOVA and General Linear Model (GLM) procedure were each applied for the QoL comparison, which was based on gender and age.

RESULTS: Donors recorded a better QoL relative to the control group. Comparison across gender revealed that differences are more obvious for males than females. Donor/control comparison across age groups reveals that donors aged 56 and above reported significantly better QoL in most domains relative to other age groups.

CONCLUSIONS: Information on donor QoL should be made available to the public to present a comprehensive picture of the consequences of organ donation. Nonetheless, we also argue that, despite the merits of organ donation, caution is required before concluding that donors have better QoL because the present research outcomes may reflect a self-selection bias in which respondents only included donors engaging in regular follow-ups.

Keywords: Control group comparison, Informed Consent, Living Kidney Donation, Malaysia, Potential donor