The impact of pancreas transplantation on patient employment opportunities

Background: A questionnaire study was designed to determine whether the quality of life benefit provided by receiving a kidney-pancreas (KP) transplant increased the incentive to return to work, compared with patients receiving a kidney alone (KA) transplant. Methods: A confidential questionnaire was sent to 58 patients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus who had functioning grafts at least 6 months post-transplant. Thirty-eight patients had received a KP transplant and 20 patients, a KA transplant. Results: Eighty-three percent of patients returned the questionnaire (87% of KP and 75% of KA patients [p: non-significant (ns)]. The pre-transplant demographic variables of age, gender, educational status, and need for dialysis, were equivalent between the KP and KA groups, respectively (p: ns). At the time of transplantation 39% of KP patients and 33% of KA patients were employed at least 20 h/wk (p: ns). However, post-transplant significantly more KP patients (73%) were working compared with KA patients (27%, p: 0.04). Additionally, pre-transplant employment was independently associated with post-transplant work status (p: 0.01). Conclusion: These data suggest that the improvement in quality of life associated with pancreas transplantation provide an added incentive for diabetics with renal insufficiency to seek employment.