Psychological Assessment of a sample of women with ADPKD: quality of life, body image, anxiety and depression

Abstract

Introduction: The Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease (ADPKD) is a chronic renal disease that has not yet been the subject of psychological research. There are only a few studies related to the consequences and complications of this pathology on female patients, although women affected by this disease present serious problems.

Aim: The purpose of this study is to perform a psychological assessment (quality of life, anxiety, depression, body image) on a sample of 37 women with ADPKD.

Materials and Methods: The assessment is based on ad hoc social and personal record, KDQOL-SF (to evaluate health-related quality of life), HADS (for anxiety and depression) and BUT (for perceived body image). This assessment is administrated in a specific outpatient clinic.

Results: Results show that kidney disease has a negative impact on health-related quality of life. Concerns about body image are linked to anxious and depressive symptomatology: an increase in these concerns is related to a worsening of anxiety and depressive symptoms in patients. Moreover, a higher psychological malaise emerges in hypertensive ADPKD patients, in terms of mood and quality of life, compared to those without this concomitant pathology. Finally, it is important to note that social support, real or perceived, is of paramount importance in maintaining psychological well-being.

Conclusions: The psychological evaluation of ADPKD patients can be used in clinical practice as a supplemental model in multidisciplinary Nephrology team.

 

Keywords: Quality of life, ADPKD, body image, psychological assessment, hypertension.

Sorry, this entry is only available in Italian.

Introduzione

Nel corso degli ultimi anni, la collaborazione dello Psicologo Clinico con le Unità Operative di Nefrologia e Dialisi si è consolidata tanto da promuovere lo sviluppo della Psiconefrologia [1]. Tale disciplina ha l’obiettivo di identificare precocemente la presenza di situazioni di disagio psicologico legate alle patologie renali croniche e di agire su quest’ultime, con interventi di supporto psicologico il più possibile specializzati. 

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The Good Samaritan Donor Experience

Abstract

The need for patients with a chronic kidney failure and on dialysis to embark on a kidney transplant process, poses the challenge to identify alternative and effective surgical strategies to overcome the insufficient number of deceased donors. The purpose is to allow the considerable number of patients on the kidney transplant waiting lists to receive appropriate treatment in time and under the most favorable clinical conditions. Living donation from a significant other is becoming increasingly widespread, on a national and international level. Furthermore, in the last years clinical experience is showing a special kind of kidney living donation: the Good Samaritan donation, i.e. when the donor has no emotional or blood bond with the recipient and decides to become a donor as a mere act of generosity, with no remuneration or reward in return. This article, after a brief analysis of the phenomenon through data obtained from recent international studies, shares the direct experience of the Clinical Psychology Service at IRCCS – ISMETT with regard to the psychological assessment and support throughout the clinical process of a Good Samaritan kidney donor. Sharing our experience and starting a discussion on this issue is the result of the need to define shared guidelines on the psychological approach to be used with potential Good Samaritan donors.

 

KEYWORDS: Kidney transplantation, living organ donation, good Samaritan donation, psychological assessment, altruism

Sorry, this entry is only available in Italian.

Introduzione

Il trapianto di rene da donatore vivente è una tecnica chirurgica ormai diffusa in ambito trapiantologico che permette di far fronte alla condizione di insufficienza renale in maniera efficace, evitando di sottoporre il paziente ai rischi psicoclinici connessi a trattamenti emodialitici prolungati. 

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