NIV Congres

Objective In order to give informed consent, living kidney donors and recipients must have a good understanding of renal replacement therapies (RRT) options and risks. The purpose of this study was to explore the knowledge level about dialysis, transplantation and living donation among donors and recipients.

Method Eighty-five living kidney donors and 82 living donor kidney recipients completed the self-report Rotterdam Renal Replacement Knowledge-Test (R3K-T) in their native language (available in 9 languages) one day before surgery. This questionnaire consists of 10 items about Dialysis & Transplantation (DT, score:0-10) and 11 items about Living Donation (LD, score:0-11).

Results Recipients scored significantly higher on the DT-subscale (M=8.40, SD=2.53) than donors (M=6.36, SD=2.87). Donors scored significantly higher on the LD-subscale (M=8.36, SD=1.43) than recipients (M=6.93, SD=2.44). Using multiple linear regression analyses we found that recipients knew less about DTif their native language was not Dutch and if they were undergoing pre-emptive transplantation. Recipients knew less about LD if they were female, if their native language was not Dutch and if they had a religious affiliation. Donors knew less about LD if their native language was not Dutch.

Conclusion It appears that recipients and donors retain different information even when informed together. The finding that donors did not answer all questions about LD correctly is in line with conclusions of earlier studies that some living kidney donors do not make the decision to donate based on consideration of risks and benefits. Despite patient education and the questionnaire being offered in various languages, non-Dutch speaking donors and recipients scored lower on RRT knowledge. Therefore, extra efforts should be made to ensure that these donors and recipients understand the information given.