This thesis investigates how older patients (≥65 years) and their healthcare providers make decisions about kidney transplantation and dialysis, and which treatment outcomes are important to them. Older patients primarily value quality of life, although preferences vary between individuals. More specifically, fatigue and life expectancy emerged as the most important treatment outcomes for older patients with kidney failure. In older adults, kidney transplantation leads to improved quality of life and fewer symptoms, while dialysis results in little change in these areas. About half of the patients achieved their personal treatment goals within six months after transplantation or dialysis initiation. The risk of complications was often underestimated by patients. The findings of this thesis emphasize the importance of person-centered decision-making, in which the expected benefits and risks of treatments are clearly communicated.
Tessa Schoot (1992) obtained her Master's degree in Medicine at the Radboud University in 2017 after which she worked as resident in internal medicine at Jeroen Bosch Hospital. In 2020, she started her PhD research as part of the Department of Nephrology of Jeroen Bosch Hospital and Radboudumc. Currently, she is working as resident in internal medicine at Radboudumc.