Quality of life and psychological outcome of donors after living donor liver transplantation

AIM: To investigate the health related quality of life (HRQoL) and psychological outcome of donors after living donor liver transplantation.METHODS: Participants were 92 consecutive liver transplant donors who underwent hepatectomy without middle hepatic vein at West China Hospital of Sichuan University between January 2007 and September 2010. HRQoL was measured using the Chinese version of the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36 (SF-36), and psychological symptoms were measured using the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R). Data collected from donors were compared to previously published data from the general population. Clinical and demographic data were collected from medical records and questionnaires.RESULTS: The general health score of the SF-36 was significantly lower in females (59.78 ± 12.25) than in males (75.83 ± 22.09). Donors more than 40 years old scored higher in social functioning (85.71 ± 14.59) and mental health (82.61 ± 20.00) than those younger than 40 (75.00 ± 12.13, 68.89 ± 12.98; social functioning and mental health, respectively). Donors who had surgery more than two years prior to the study scored highest in physical functioning (P = 0.001) and bodily pain (P = 0.042) while those less than one year from surgery scored lowest. The health of the liver recipient significantly influenced the general health (P = 0.042), social functioning (P = 0.010), and role-emotional (P = 0.028) of donors. Donors with full-time employment scored highest in role-physical (P = 0.005), vitality (P = 0.001), social functioning (P = 0.016), mental health (P < 0.001), the physical component summary scale (P < 0.001), and the mental component summary scale (MCS) (P < 0.001). Psychological measures indicated that donors were healthier than the general population in obsessive-compulsive behavior, interpersonal sensitivity, phobic anxiety, and paranoid ideation. The MCS of the SF-36 was significantly correlated with most symptom scores of the SCL-90-R.CONCLUSION: HRQoL and psychological outcome were favorable in living liver transplant donors after donation. Specifically, gender, age, time since operation, recipient health condition, and employment after donation, influenced postoperative quality of life.