Clinical Outcomes, Risk Communication, and Follow-Up After Living Kidney Donation: A Retrospective Observational Cohort Study

Background/Objectives: Living kidney donation expands access to transplantation, but donor safety requires effective risk communication and sustained surveillance. We evaluated renal and cardiometabolic changes after donation in conjunction with donor-reported risk communication and follow-up.

Methods

This observational cohort study included 91 living kidney donors with paired assessments before donation and 16–18 months after nephrectomy; the analytic cohort included only donors for whom both paired clinical assessments were available. Outcomes included serum creatinine, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), weight, body mass index (BMI), and blood pressure; counseling and follow-up were assessed retrospectively using a structured questionnaire of donor-reported recall, administered at the post-donation assessment. Changes were summarized as median paired changes with interquartile ranges for non-normally distributed outcomes and as mean paired changes with t-based 95% confidence intervals for normally distributed outcomes; the multiplicity of the six paired comparisons was addressed using a conservative Bonferroni-adjusted significance threshold (0.05/6 = 0.0083).