Success of communication about renal transplantation between patient and doctor

Four hundred patients in 12 renal units, half of them with attached transplant units, answered a questionnaire by post or in clinics about the successes and failures of the communication process that concerned their treatment by dialysis and transplantation. Eighty per cent wanted more information, whatever their mode of treatment, those with successful transplants being more satisfied with the information given than those with failed transplants (60% vs 35%). Patients with a failed transplant were more enthusiastic about a second transplant than those still waiting for their first (80% vs 70%). Answers still show some anxiety about transplantation in 20% of patients. Free comments not elicited by questions revealed lack of information about the major implications of transplantation and drugs used in treatment. It is suggested that written information must be backed up by personal enhancement of the stages a patient passes through. Patients' Associations provide a valuable way of giving information.