Smoking Behaviors of Renal Transplant Recipients: An Analysis of 113 Patients

Abstract

Objectives: Smoking is the most important remediable risk factor for the progression of renal diseases. Smoking has serious adverse effects, such as cardiovascular disease, kidney function impairment, and cancer in kidney transplant recipients who are already at high risk for these diseases. In this study, our objective was to evaluate descriptive characteristics and smoking status of renal transplant recipients.

Materials and Methods: We evaluated 113 patients who underwent renal transplant at Baskent University Hospital between 1990 and 2015. The medical records of all patients were retrospectively reviewed. Patient demographics, cause of renal diseases, mortality status, smoking status, and amount of smoking were recorded.

Results: In our study, 82 patients (72.7%) were male and 31 were female. The mean age was 38.50 +/- 12.94 years. Causes of renal failure were as follows: 15.9% from hypertension, 12.4% from diabetes mellitus (all types), 8% from glomerulonephritis, 8% from vesicoureteral reflux, 6.2% from polycystic kidney disease, 17.6% other, and 31.9% unknown. Comorbid systemic disease was found in 57.6% of the patients. Fifty patients (44.2%) were current smokers, and 63 patients (55.8%) were nonsmokers. Mean age of smokers was 44.68 +/- 10.60 years, with most being male patients (92.0%). There was a statistically significant difference between smoking status and sex (P < .001). The presence of comorbid diseases was significantly different between smokers and nonsmokers (P = .001). The smoking status of patients with hypertension (28.2%) was significantly different (P = .032) than others.

Conclusions: Smoking cessation is associated with substantial health benefits for all smokers. For kidney transplant recipients, cigarette smoking has many adverse effects, causing cardiovascular disease and other comorbid diseases. Therefore, every attempt should be made to encourage kidney transplant candidates to stop smoking.