Quality of Life of Older Patients Undergoing Renal Transplantation: Finding the Right Immunosuppressive Treatment

Kidney transplantation is currently the best treatment for end-stage renal disease, both in terms of mortality benefit and quality of life (QOL). Elderly patients are a rapidly growing subset of the kidney transplant waiting list. While it is clear that elderly individuals have a mortality benefit from kidney transplant, it is less clear how to make sure these individuals benefit from optimal QOL following transplant. Several studies demonstrate superiority of some immunosuppressive regimens over others in the QOL domain. Tacrolimus has been shown to be associated with better QOL than cyclosporine (ciclosporin), as has corticosteroid-free immunosuppressive regimens. Similarly, patients on drug regimens, which tend to lessen the side effects, report better QOL. However, these studies are observational or cross-sectional and not focused exclusively on the elderly patient. More studies are needed to determine optimal immunosuppression regimens for elderly individuals. Additionally, further studies on determinants of QOL in elderly kidney transplant recipients are also needed.