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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Comprehensive evaluations are required to safeguard voluntarism and minimize harm to living kidney donors. This process is lengthy, invasive, and emotionally challenging, with up to one fifth of potential donors opting out. We aimed to describe donors' experiences of the evaluation process. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, and lifestyle interference (living in limbo, onerous lifestyle disruption, and valuing flexibility). CONCLUSIONS: Previous donors described an emotional investment in donating and determination to protect their eligibility, despite having concerns for their health, financial and lifestyle disruption, and opposition from their family or community. Our findings suggest the need to prepare donors for surgery and recovery, minimize anxiety and lifestyle burdens, ensure that donors feel comfortable expressing their fears and concerns, reduce unnecessary delays, and make explicit the responsibilities of donors in their assessment process.
Hanson et al. (Mon,) studied this question.