Live related donors in India: Their quality of life using world health organization quality of life brief questionnaire

CONTEXT: Organ selling is now legally banned in India. Numerous studies have documented that organ vendors have a poor quality of life (QOL) following kidney donation. Aims: This study was designed to assess the QOL of living related donors in India. Settings and Design: This study was a single-center prospective study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The QOL of 106 consecutive related kidney donors was compared before and 6 months after the donation using the World Health Organisation Quality of Life Brief Questionnaire. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: STATA 9.0 (College Station, Texas) was used and a p value less than 0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: The response rate was 94.3% and the mean age was 43.2±11.95 years. Females constituted 73% of the population. Our study showed a significant improvement in the QOL among three of the four domains. The surgical technique (86- mini open donor nephrectomy, and 14 laparoscopic donor nephrectomy), education status, and marital status did not make any difference in the change in the QOL. CONCLUSIONS: Despite a number of our donors being unemployed and not being well educated, live related kidney donation improves the QOL of donors.