Quality of life in patients undergoing hemodialysis and renal transplantation--a meta-analytic review.

The purpose of this review was to determine the magnitude of effect of renal transplant on quality of life measures when compared with hemodialysis. Sixteen studies were analyzed, and the summary effect sizes were as follows: general quality of life was 0.98, physical functioning was 0.77, and psychosocial functioning was 0.39. Compared to hemodialysis, renal transplantation was significantly more effective in improving all three domains, particularly general overall quality of life and physical functioning.