Quality of life, depression, and psychosocial characteristics of patients awaiting liver transplants.

BACKGROUND: The identification of the psychological issues that impair the quality of life and the adherence to treatment in transplant candidates are important.

OBJECTIVE: This study evaluated the presence of symptoms of depression and the quality of life of liver transplant candidates.

METHODS: One hundred liver transplant candidates underwent a psychological analysis using the following instruments: the short form-36 (SF-36) quality of life questionnaire, the Beck depression inventory (BDI), and Structured Interviews for liver transplant candidates.

RESULTS: Seventy-three (73%) of the patients were males. Interestingly, 63% of the patients were in a domestic partnership. At the time of the evaluation, 55 patients were not working due to illness, 27 patients were actively working, and 11 patients were retired. Importantly, fears related to the transplant (e.g., fear the surgery and of death) were identified in 38% of the patients. The data from this study demonstrated a significant negative correlation between depressive scores (BDI) and seven of the eight areas of quality of life (SF-36), such as functional capacity (r = .317, P = .0013), social aspects (r = -.469, P < .0001), economic aspects (r = -.319, P = .0012), and mental health (r = -.3832, P < .0001).

CONCLUSION: The data indicated that the psychological aspects related to transplants require psychological intervention because they can affect the recuperation process, the quality of life, and the adherence to treatment for potential transplant patients.