Journal Article

Psychological distress and associated factors among kidney transplant recipients and living kidney donors during COVID-19

Liew, Ian Tatt, Kwan, Natelie, Wang, Yeli, Thangaraju, Sobhana, Yong, Jing Hua, He, Xia, Kee, Terence, Lee, Constance, Tee, Ping Sing, Jafar, Tazeen Hasan, Foo, Fiona, Ho, Quan Yao, Tan, Judy, Shirore, Rupesh Madhukar, Lu, York Moi, Ng, Eleanor, Leong, Jenny, Baey, Shannon

2022

Overview

Background The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused significant psychological distress globally. Our study assessed the prevalence of psychological distress and associated factors during COVID-19 pandemic among kidney transplant recipients and kidney donors. Methods A cross-sectional survey of 497 participants (325 recipients and 172 donors) was conducted from 1st May to 30th June 2020 in Singapore. The survey questionnaire assessed knowledge levels of COVID-19, socio-demographic data, health status, psychosocial impact of COVID-19, and precautionary behaviors during the pandemic. Psychological distress was defined as having anxiety, depression, or stress measured by the validated Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21. Linear regression analyses were used to assess factors associated with higher psychological distress. Results The prevalence of psychological distress was 14.3% (95% confidence interval: 11.5–17.6%) in the overall population; it was 12.8% (9.79–16.6%) in recipients and 13.4% (9.08–19.6%) in donors with no significant difference ( P  = 0.67). Younger age (21–49 vs. ≥50 years), unmarried status, non-Singapore citizen, worse health conditions, and worrying about physical and mental health were associated with higher psychological distress. Malays (versus Chinese), taking precautionary measures (hand sanitization), and receiving enough information about COVID-19 were associated with lower psychological distress. No interactions were observed between recipients and donors. Conclusions At least one in ten recipients and donors suffer from psychological distress during COVID-19 pandemic . Focused health education to younger adults, unmarried individuals, non-Singapore citizens, and those with poor health status could potentially prevent psychological distress in recipients and donors.

• Publisher: BioMed Central,BioMed Central Ltd,BMC
• Subject: Adult / Age Factors / Aged / Anxiety / Anxiety - epidemiology / Anxiety - ethnology / Care and treatment / China - ethnology / COVID-19 / COVID-19 - prevention & control / COVID-19 - psychology / Cross-Sectional Studies / Depression / Depression - epidemiology / Depression - ethnology / Diagnosis / Female / Health aspects / Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice - ethnology / Health Status / Humans / Internal Medicine / Kidney transplant / Kidney Transplantation / Kidneys / Malaysia - ethnology / Male / Marital Status / Medicine / Medicine & Public Health / Middle Aged / Nephrology / Organ transplant recipients / Prevalence / Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Psychological aspects / Psychological Distress / Research Article / Risk factors / SARS-CoV-2 / Singapore - epidemiology / Stress (Psychology) / Surveys and Questionnaires / Tissue Donors - psychology / Transplant Recipients - psychology / Transplantation / Type 2 diabetes / Young Adult