International

Renal Anaemia in the news

High rate of psychiatric problems in adolescent kidney recipients

• 19 February 2009
• Reuters Health

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Adolescent kidney transplant recipients have a high prevalence of psychiatric comorbidity, educational impairment, and social isolation, according to findings published online in the journal Pediatric Transplantation.

The authors, led by Dr. Sylvie Berney-Martinet of Lausanne University Hospital, Switzerland, comment that children with chronic kidney disease (CKD) often have psychological problems. The point of their research was to compare the psychologic profiles of adolescent CKD patients with adolescents who have received kidney transplants.

Three groups were studied: 40 renal transplant recipients, 40 healthy adolescents, and 20 adolescents with CKD -- all between the ages of 12-18 years.

Compared to controls and to CKD patients, the transplant recipients had lower total competency scores on the Youth Self-Report (YSR) (p=0.028) and on the parent-rated Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) (p=0.003).

Fifteen control subjects (37.5%) met diagnostic criteria for any lifetime psychiatric disorder, compared to 26 transplant patients (65%) and 12 CKD patients (60%) (p = 0.038).

Rates of lifetime depressive disorder were 35% in the transplant group, 35% in the CKD group, and 15.2% in the control group (p = 0.043).

Among the transplant recipients, whether the donor was living or deceased seemed to have no effect on psychologic outcome. "Few data exist in the literature on this issue," Dr. Berney-Martinet said in an email interview with Reuters Health. "Quantitative studies examining psychiatric and psychological aspects on larger samples of living related donor and deceased donor adolescent recipients are needed to confirm our findings."

"This study reveals a high prevalence of psychiatric comorbidity, educational impairment, and social isolation among adolescent transplant recipients. These dimensions should be routinely screened for in end-stage renal disease patients, both before and after transplant, and appropriate steps should be taken when needed," she noted. "Our results underscore the need for continuous multidisciplinary collaboration in the care of these patients."

Pediatr Transplant 2008.