Back to work? Socioeconomic status after kidney transplantation

Employment after kidney transplantation is an important marker of health recovery. The study addresses the impact of successful kidney transplantation on socioeconomic factors and employment in a Swiss cohort.

Patients who received a kidney allograft at the University Hospital of Basel between 2000 and 2011 were investigated. A standardised survey was used to obtain information on socioeconomic factors 1 year before and after successful transplantation.

A total of 610 patients were contacted; 354 (58%) answered the survey. The median age of respondents was 53.5 (interquartile range 42-61) years at the time of transplantation, 31.2% were females. Overall, 201 out of 282 working-age patients (71.3%) were working 1 year after transplantation: 102 full-time, 55 part-time, 30 patients part-time with additional disability pension, and 14 housework. Seventy-two patients (25.3%) did not work 1 year after transplantation: 63 patients had a full or partial disability pension, and nine patients were unemployed. Thirty out of 282 working-age patients (10.6%) had improved working ability after transplantation. Employment after transplantation was favoured by: living donor transplantation (p <0.0001), pre-emptive transplantation (p <0.0001), dialysis duration ≤1 year (p <0.0001), preserved employment before transplantation (p <0.0001), and higher education (p = 0.003), whereas age above 50 years (p = 0.006), and dialysis duration > 1 year (p <0.0001) had a negative impact.

The employment rate in this Swiss cohort before and after successful kidney transplantation is high compared with the literature. A high number of living donors, of pre-emptive transplantations, and short dialysis vintages contribute to this observation.