İnvestigation of parameters affecting self-management power in kidney transplant recipients

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Kidney transplantation is one of the types of renal replacement therapy that can be performed in patients with end-stage renal disease. The power to perform activities that require the patient to maintain his life and health is called self-management power. Better health outcomes are inevitable in patients with high self-management power. In this study, we aimed to investigate the parameters affecting the self-management power in kidney transplant recipients.MATERIAL AND METHODS: All kidney transplant recipients who were followed up from the nephrology outpatient clinic and applied to the nephrology outpatient clinic between July 2022 and September 2022 were interviewed. Self-management power was assessed using the self-care agency scale. Parameters correlated with self-management power were evaluated by linear regression analysis.RESULTS: The study was conducted with 128 kidney transplant recipients. The mean age of the patients was 44.63±13.5 years. The mean self-management power score was 112.86±14.6. A correlation was found between self-management power and age, number of drugs used, time after transplantation, and number of chronic diseases. Age was found to be the strongest parameter affecting self-management power in the linear regression model.CONCLUSIONS: Both graft and patient survival can be improved with a good knowledge of the factors that affect self-management in kidney transplant recipients. Some demographic and clinical factors may affect the power of self-management. Although the success in kidney transplantation is mostly attributed to the transplantation center, it should be kept in mind that the self-management power of the patient can also contribute to this success, and approaches that can improve the sef-management power should be applied.