Relationship between subjective well-being and self-management behaviors in kidney transplant patients and comparison based on dialysis experience

Objective: This study aimed to clarify the relationship between subjective well-being and self-management behaviors in kidney transplant recipients and examine how prior dialysis experience influences each of these factors. Methods: This cross-sectional study conducted a self-administered questionnaire survey with 105 post-kidney transplant patients who visited a kidney transplant outpatient clinic. Data from preemptive and non-preemptive kidney transplants were compared using the t-test and Mann–Whitney U test. After calculating the correlation coefficient between subjective well-being and self-management behaviors, a binomial logistic regression model was used to evaluate the odds ratios and their 95% confidence intervals. Results: The positive emotions subscale of subjective well-being showed weak to moderate correlations with all self-management behavior items. Logistic regression analysis revealed that self-management behavior scores were influenced by post-transplant employment status and positive affect, whereas subjective well-being perceptions were influenced by self-management behaviors. Regardless of dialysis experience, the subjective well-being and self-management scores were high. Both groups with dialysis experience and the group without it demonstrated high scores on all items within the self-management behavior subscale, including medication adherence. Conclusions: Subjective well-being and self-management behaviors among kidney transplant recipients were higher than the participants of the previous research. Furthermore, a correlation was found between the positive effects of subjective well-being and self-management behaviors. Although the group without prior dialysis experience had a significantly higher proportion of employed individuals, it was not possible to determine which group demonstrated better adherence based on prior dialysis experience.