Renal transplant recipients' and their physicians' expectations regarding return to work posttransplant

The purpose of the study was to explore the return to work (RTW) expectations of adult renal transplant recipients and their transplant physicians. The design was a prospective survey. Data was collected from 25 adult end stage renal disease (ESRD) patients who were admitted to a large Midwestern transplant center for renal transplantation and the surgeons who performed their transplant operations. Self-administered questionnaires were completed pretransplant by the recipients and surgeons, and at 6 weeks posttransplant by the recipients. Recipients who were employed pretransplant and were more likely to expect to RTW posttransplant, did so at higher rates than recipients who were not employed pretransplant and had physicians who did not expect them to RTW. The results illustrate that posttransplant RTW expectations of both renal transplant recipients and their physicians, when assessed pretransplant, are often congruent and are indicative of recipient posttransplant vocational rehabilitation.