IS THE MERIT OF BECOMING A LIVING LIVER DONOR ENOUGH?

Abstract

Introduction: Due the shortage of deceased donation, living liver donor transplantation has been widely used. The aim of this study is to evaluate the emotional states of the living liver donor’s (LLD) after the donation. Materials and Methods: Since 1988, we performed 652 liver transplantation (443 living donor, 209 deceased donor liver transplantation) at Başkent University. Among 443 living donors, 62 LLDs agreed to participate in the study. All data were collected by a questionnaire form designed by the researchers according to the related literature. The questionnaire form included socio-demographic data as well as Patient Health Questionnaire 2 (PHQ-2) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire (GAD-2). Results: 62 LLD who fulfilled the form were included in the study. The mean age of the participants was 44,39±9,33 years (61,3% female and 38,7% male). 46,77% of LLDs had primary school education and 93,5% of them were married. The majority of the LLDs were mothers (45,2%, p<0,01). When LLDs learned that they can donate, the declared emotional reactions were happiness (46,8%), the feeling of the responsibility (16,1%), anxiety (12,9%), hesitation (9,7%) and fear (8,1%) respectively. The emotional reaction of the happiness found to be higher in male LLDs (F 34.2%; M 66,7%). Female LLDs dominated the other reactions higher than men. The score of the PHQ-2 test showed that LLDs were in depressive state at the time of the questinnaire (F 1,56±0,21; M 1,60±0,42). The percentage of female participants who were questioning their decision to become a LLD was found higher (63,2%) than males. The scores regarding the possibility of the psychological pressure at the time of donation showed that LLDs had felt psychological pressure (F 1,41±0,49; M 1,00±0,54). Conclusion: Being a donor causes psychological and social pressure. Harvesting a healthy individual should not be seen as a more feasable therapy for end stage organ failure. Deceased-donor organ transplantation should be the preferred treatment.