Quality of Life Therapy for Adults with ESRD Awaiting Renal Transplantation

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Project Summary: Despite known quality of life (QOL) deficits associated with end-stage renal disease (ESRD), there have been very few attempts to develop strategies to improve QOL in adults with ESRD awaiting renal transplantation. The long-term goal of this research program is to better understand how QOL can be enhanced, to identify the mechanisms underlying QOL changes, to identify which patients benefit most from QOL intervention, and to determine whether QOL benefits can extend beyond transplantation. The objective of this application is to determine the effectiveness, feasibility and applicability of Quality of Life Therapy (QOLT) in treating adults with ESRD awaiting renal transplantation. In a recent small, single-center clinical trial, we demonstrated that QOLT can improve QOL, psychological functioning, and social intimacy in patients awaiting lung transplantation. This application seeks to examine whether this intervention can be effectively adapted and implemented with adults with ,ESRD who are awaiting renal transplantation. The central hypothesis is that by targeting improvements in specific life domains, QOLT yields significant clinical benefits in QOL, psychological functioning, and the patient-caregiver relationship. This hypothesis will be tested by pursuing three specific aims: 1) Determine the effectiveness of QOLT; 2) Examine the differential effectiveness of QOLT by race (White, African American); and 3) Assess the feasibility of a multisite R01 application. Under the first aim, adults with ESRD awaiting renal transplantation will be randomized to receive QOLT, Supportive Therapy (ST), or Standard Care (SC). Primary outcomes will be changes in QOL, psychological functioning, and social intimacy at 1 and 12 weeks post-treatment. Under the second aim, the relationship between race and intervention outcomes will be closely examined. Under the third aim, attrition rates, reasons for attrition, therapist adherence to treatment protocols, and participant satisfaction ratings will be gathered to assess the need for protocol changes prior to developing a larger, multisite clinical trial R01 application. This study is innovative because it is among the first to evaluate a theoretically-driven psychological intervention to specifically improve QOL in the context of ESRD and renal transplantation. The proposed research is significant because it is expected to advance and expand understanding of how QOL can be improved in patients with ESRD. Relevance to Public Health: This is an important and under- investigated area. With very long waiting times to renal transplantation and the burdens associated with dialysis, effective QOL interventions can be used to improve the quality of well-being for all patients who are otherwise medically disabled and awaiting transplantation. These benefits have the potential to extend the QOL outcomes otherwise derived from transplantation alone.