Although living kidney donors receive praise from friends and coworkers for their selflessness, recent studies report that members of the immediate family may not be as supportive. Reports of conflict surrounding living organ donation include divorce between the donor and the donor's spouse. The purpose of this review of the literature is to (1) discuss the spousal role when confronted with a partner's illness, (2) explore the current research describing the spouses of patients with heart disease and cancer, various transplant recipients, and living organ donors, and (3) identify the need for future research to explore the experiences and needs of the spouses of living kidney donors. Because the attitudes of donor family members, especially spouses, may affect the decision to donate and the satisfaction with recovery from donation surgery, it is critical to know how the spouses of living kidney donors view kidney donation. This knowledge may be instrumental in promoting family harmony and donor recovery and wellness.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
ThielG. Living kidney donor transplantation-new dimensions. Transpl Int.1998;11(suppl):S50–S56.
2.
ConradNMurrayL. The psychosocial meanings of living related kidney organ donation: Recipient and donor perspectives literature review. ANNA J.1999;26:485–490.
3.
KurzJ. Vulnerability of well spouses involved in lung transplantation. J Fam Nurs.2002;8:352–370.
4.
BanthiaRMalcarneVLVarniJWKoCMSadlerGRGreenbergsHL. The effects of dyadic strength and coping styles on psychological distress in couples faced with prostate cancer. J Behav Med. February 2002;26:31–52.
5.
MartenssonJDracupKFridlundB. Decisive situations influencing spouses' support of patients with heart failure. A critical incident technique analysis. Heart Lung.2001;5:341–360.
6.
PerssonLRasmussonMHallbergI. Spouses' views during their partners' illness and treatment. Cancer Nurs.1998;21:97–105.
7.
O'FarrellPMurrayJHotzS. Psychologic distress among spouses of patients undergoing cardiac rehabilitation. Heart Lung.2000;29:97–104.
8.
BaiderLKochUEsacsonRDe-NourA. Prospective study of cancer patients and their spouses: The weakness of martial strength. Psychooncology. January-February 1998;7:49–56.
9.
BohachickPReederSTaylorMAntonB. Psychosocial impact of heart transplantation on spouses. Clin Nurs Res.2001;10:6–25.
10.
CollinsEWhite-WilliamsCJalowiecA. Spouse quality of life before and 1 year after heart transplantation. Crit Care Nurs Clin North Am.2000;12:103–110.
11.
McCurryAThomasS. Spouses experiences in heart transplantation. West J Nurs Res.2002;24:180–194.
12.
ManneSTaylorKDoughertyJKemenyN. Supportive and negative responses in the partner relationship: Their association with psychological adjustment among individuals with cancer. J Behav Med.1997;26:101–125.
13.
CollinsEWhite-WilliamsCJalowiecA. Spouse stressors while awaiting heart transplantation. Heart Lung.1996;25:4–13.
14.
ChenMAEisenbergMSMeischkeH. Impact of home defibrillators on post myocardial infarction patients and their significant others: An interview study. Heart Lung.2002;31:173–185.
15.
StarzomskiRHiltonA. Patient and family adjustment to kidney transplantation with and without an interim period of dialysis. Nephrol Nurs J. February 2000;27:17–8, 21–32; discussion 33, 52.
16.
SchulzKHofmannCSanderKBurdelsiMRogiersX. Comparison of quality of life and family stress in families of children with living related liver transplant versus families of children who received a cadaveric liver. Transplant Proc.2001;33:1496–1497.
17.
CallahanH. Families dealing with advanced heart failure: A challenge and an opportunity. Crit Care Nurs Q. July-September 2003;26:230–243.
18.
NolanMCupplesSBrownMPierceLLepleyDOhlerL. Perceived stress and coping strategies among families of cardiac transplant candidates during organ waiting period. Heart Lung.1992;21:540–547.
19.
WicksMMilsteadEHathawayDCetingokM. Family caregivers' burden, quality of life, and health following patients' renal transplantation. J Transplant Coord.1998; 8:170–176.
20.
KaylerLMeier-KriescheHPunchJ. Gender imbalance in living donor renal transplantation. Transplantation.2002;73:248–252
21.
AndrewsP. Recent developments: Renal transplantation. Br Med J.2002;24:530–534.
22.
SannerM. The donation process of living kidney donors. Nephrol Dial Transplant.2005;20:1707–1713.
23.
IngelfingerJ. Risks and benefits to the living donor. N Engl J Med.2005;353:447–449.
24.
EllisonMMcBrideMTarantoSDelmonicoFKauffmanH. Living kidney donors in need of kidney transplants: A report from the organ procurement and transplantation network. Transplantation.2002;74:1349–1351.
25.
TerasakiPCeckaMGjertsonDTakemotoS. High survival rates of kidney transplants from spousal and living unrelated donors. N Engl J Med.1995;333:333–336.
26.
Biller-AndornoNSchauenburgH. It's only love? Some pitfalls in emotionally related organ donation. J Med Ethics.2001;27:162–164.
27.
BinetABockHVogelbachP. Outcome in emotionally related living kidney donor transplantation. Nephrol Dial Transplant.1997;12:1940–1948.
28.
MontgomeryRAZacharyARacusenL. Plasmapheresis and intravenous immunoglobulin provides effective rescue therapy for refractory humoral rejection and allows kidneys to be successfully transplanted into cross-match-positive recipients. Transplantation.2000;70:887–895.
PascualMTheruvathTKawaiTTolkoff-RubinNCosimiB. Strategies to improve long-term outcomes after renal transplantation. N Engl J Med.2002;346:580–590.
31.
SchoverLStreemSBoparaiNDuriakKNovickA. The psychosomatic impact of donating a kidney: Long-term follow up from a urology based center. J Urol.1997;157:1596–1600.
32.
JacobsCJohnsonEAndersonKGillinghamKMatasA. Kidney transplants from living donors: How donation affects family dynamics. Adv Renal Replace Ther. April 1998;5:89–97.
33.
YiM. Decision-making process for living kidney donors. J Nurs Scholarsh.2003;35:61–66.
34.
Department of Health and Human Services. Available at: http://crisp.cit.nih.gov/v. Accessed January 14, 2006.
35.
EmirogluRYagmurdurHKarakayaliHMorayGArslanG. Results with living-donor kidney transplants from spouses: 14 years of experience at our center. Transplant Proc.2002;34:2060–2061.
