A longitudinal assessment of the health status of diabetic and nondiabetic renal transplant recipients.

This paper compares the health status of diabetic and nondiabetic renal transplant recipients. Data for the analysis were collected from 396 patients who received cadaveric transplants at 5 transplant centers in the United States. Health status was measured at several points in time, from 3 months to 15 months following transplantation. In addition to using several measures of perceived health status, 2 standardized health status measures--The Sickness Impact Profile and the Nottingham Health Profile--were used. The results of the study indicated that the health status of diabetic patients is lower than that of nondiabetic patients. Not surprisingly, nondiabetic patients are more satisfied with their health than are diabetic patients. The results of the study also showed that the health status of both diabetic and nondiabetic patients improves over time. However, with the exception of work disability, the improvement in the health status of transplant patients during the period from 3 to 12 months posttransplant is much greater for diabetic patients than for nondiabetic patients.