Abstract
BackgroundOur retrospective follow-up study aimed to explore the degree of overall mental distress in a cohort of solid-organ transplantation (SOT) recipients after liver, heart or lung transplantation. Furthermore, we investigated how overall mental distress is linked to health-related quality of life.Methods123 SOT patients treated during the study period were enrolled in this investigation at a mean of 24.6 months (SD=11.6) after transplantation. Before transplantation, the Transplant Evaluation Rating Scale (TERS) was used to classify the level of adjustment in psychosocial functioning among transplantation candidates. After transplantation, recipients completed a research battery, which included the SCL-90-R, and the SF-36.Results39 (31.7%) transplantation recipients had clinically significant overall mental distress as measured on the Global Severity Index of the SCL-90-R. Obsessive-compulsive symptoms (92.3%), somatization symptoms (87.2%), anxiety symptoms (84.6%), depression symptoms (82.1%) and phobic anxiety symptoms (69.2%) were a frequent finding.Transplantation recipients with overall mental distress had significant lower levels of adjustment in psychosocial functioning before transaplantation than those without overall mental distress as measured in the TERS. Transplantation-related overall mental distress symptomatology was associated with maximal decrements in health-related quality of life.ConclusionTransplantation recipients may face major transplantation- and treatment-related overall mental distress and impairments to their health-related quality of life. Further, overall mental distress is a high-risk factor in intensifying impairments to patients’ overall quality of life.
Highlights
Our retrospective follow-up study aimed to explore the degree of overall mental distress in a cohort of solid-organ transplantation (SOT) recipients after liver, heart or lung transplantation
A number of outcome studies showed that solid-organ transplantation is associated with improvements in health-related quality of life relative to the pretransplant period, but without restoring the health status levels described in the general population [10]
Respondents with complete data were similar to those lost for refusal and untracebility on the sociodemographic and treatment parameters
Summary
Our retrospective follow-up study aimed to explore the degree of overall mental distress in a cohort of solid-organ transplantation (SOT) recipients after liver, heart or lung transplantation. We investigated how overall mental distress is linked to health-related quality of life. Great achievements have been made in the field of transplantation surgery over the past decades [1]. These usually life-saving interventions present those affected with stressful experiences and great demands that not infrequently trigger consequent psychiatric illnesses. A number of outcome studies showed that solid-organ transplantation is associated with improvements in health-related quality of life relative to the pretransplant period, but without restoring the health status levels described in the general population [10]. Earlier investigations showed a significant connection between psychiatric morbidity and impaired health-related quality of life [3]
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