Self-management behavior of renal transplant recipients

Objective To investigate self-management behaviors of kidney transplantation recipients after discharge. Methods A total of 97 kidney transplantation recipients were recruited from a teaching hospital of Peking University From September 2009 to June 2012, and all eligible subjects were then assigned to 3 groups: post-transplantation less than 6 months group (group A), post-transplantation 6-12 months group (group B), and post-transplantation more than 12 months group (group C). The subjects were required to complete self-management scale for renal transplant recipients.ANOVA was used for data analysis. Results There were 32 patients in group A, 31 in group B, and 34 in group C. Self-management behavior score of the participants of the three groups was 100.1±7.0, 99.0±7.3 and 91.3±5.8, respectively (F=3.53, P=0.03). In terms of diet, group B got the highest score (F=16.41, P=0.00). However, group A showed excellence in physical activities (F=11.50, P=0.00). For three groups, score of drug effect and side effect was 2.00±0.00, 2.03±0.18, and 2.41±0.50; score of routine laboratory values was 2.00±0.00, 2.05±0.16 and 2.82±0.39; and score of skin protection was 3.09±0.30, 3.03±0.91, and 2.85±0.36, respectively. Conclusions Post-transplantive self-management behavior of patients who completed the surgery for more than 12 months may not be better than others.Healthcare professionals need to improve patients' self-management through health education. Key words: Kidney transplantation; Health surveys; Follow-up studies