Emotional reactions of patients after a kidney transplant

Background: The patient's psychological state before, during and after the
transplantation seems to attract the least attention of the therapeutic unit. Among a number of emotional states that the patient experiences it is anxiety that is the leading one. It is an emotional reaction which the patients experience particularly frequently. The aim of the study was to establish the anxiety dynamics of the patients who have had their kidney transplanted.
Material/Methods: The anxiety dynamics have been established by means of STAI - the self-assessment questionnaire- an inventory to measure the level and characteristics of anxiety by Spielberg. The study has been carried out on a group of 31 patients, including 13 females and 18 males. The level of anxiety was measured after 3-8 days after the transplantation, and once again after 14-18 days after the transplantation. The averaged levels of anxiety as a state and as a characteristic have been compared in the subsequent studies of men and women after a kidney transplant.
Results: On the basis of the carried-out studies, the anxiety dynamics of patients after a kidney transplant have been observed. The level of anxiety in the firststudy, carried out freshly after the transplantation, was higher than in the second study.
Conclusions: Patients who are over 40 year's old show higher level of anxiety.
The higher level of anxiety has been observed in the second study.

Keywords: Anxiety