Investigation of weight gain and effecting factors in kidney transplant recipients in the first two years after transplantation

This study was performed to examine weight gain and affecting factors in kidney transplant recipients in two years after transplantation. The study has a retrospective, descriptive design and included 139 kidney transplant recipients regularly followed by two university hospitals in two years after transplantation. Data were collected with a sociodemographic and clinical features form, The General Self-Efficacy Scale between October 2019 and April 2020. Weight and body mass index (BMI) in the third, sixth, twelfth and twenty-fourth months after transplantation were evaluated. The differences between weight and BMI at the first outpatient clinic visit and weight and BMI in the twenty-fourth month after transplantation were calculated. Obtained data were analyzed with variance analysis, linear regression analysis and multiple regression analysis. The mean age of the patients was 46.32±12.39 years. The mean weight was 7.07 kg and the mean BMI was 2.63 kg/m2. Statistically significant differences were found in weight and BMI in two years after transplantation. As age increased, weight gain decreased. Weight gain and BMI did not have a significant relation with gender, presence of chronic diseases, donor type, steroid dose and the mean general self-efficacy score. The kidney transplant recipients were found to have increases in their weight and BMI in two years after transplantation. Young kidney transplant recipients have higher weight gains. Therefore, kidney transplant recipients, especially young ones should be closely followed in terms of weight gain after transplantation. Key Words: Kidney Transplantation, BMI, Self-Efficacy, Nursing