Long-Term Health-Related Quality of Life in Living Liver Donors

Abstract

BackgroundIn living donor liver transplantation (LDLT), 2 patients undergo surgery, and the advantages and disadvantages for both patients should be considered. This study evaluated the long-term quality of life in living liver donors, and its impact on their activities of daily living focusing on mood and mental health.Material/MethodsIn total, 101 living liver donors (69 female and 32 male patients, median age of 36.8 years) were surveyed at a median time of 61.8 months after liver donation (range 7–169 months). The generic Short Form Health Survey (SF-36), the Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9), and the Questionnaire of Physical Activity (IPAQ) were used. The results of SF-36 were compared to a matched control group (n=72) using the Wilcoxon test; the SF-36, the PHQ-9, and the IPAQ scores were analyzed using Spearman’s rank correlation. Linear regression model was used to check for dependencies between variables of interest. The IPAQ results were compared between the study group and the general Polish population.ResultsThere were no significant differences in the SF-36 domains between the study group and control group except body pain, which was higher in the living liver donor group (P<0.05). In 30.6% of patients, the PHQ-9 survey revealed mood disturbances. The PHQ-9 scores were higher in female-donors (P<0.05). Both summary scores of the SF-36 correlated to the PHQ-9 (P<0.001). In 89.1% of patients, physical activity was below the population norm and was lower in female donors than in male donors (P<0.01).ConclusionsLDLT had no impact on donors’ physical and mental health. Physical activity of living liver donors was lower than that of the general population. The SF-36 and the IPAQ measures seem to be reliable in the care of living liver donors. The PHQ-9 survey results and the inclination to depression of female living liver donors requires further study.

Health-Related Quality of Life in Predominantly Young Parental Living Liver Donors: A Cross-Sectional Study in China

“…The results of our study showed that female donors had significantly lower MH scores on SF-36 than male donors. This was similar to the results of studies by Morooka et al (9) and Janik et al (14), which reported that female donors showed lower MCS scores on SF-36 than male donors. The results of this study, however, were different from those of a previous Chinese study (26), which reported that female donors scored lower than male donors in the GH domain of SF-36.…”

“…In addition, multiple regression analysis indicated that donor age was associated independently with both the PCS and the MCS scores, in which older age was a negative predictor for the PCS score, but a positive predictor for the MCS score. Janik et al (14) stated that both the PCS and MCS scores decreased with age. A Chinese study by Jin et al (26) found that older donors (aged ≥ 40 years old) reported a significantly higher HRQoL in domains such as SF and MH.…”

“…Based on the literature review, the predictors of the HRQoL in living liver donors were summarized. Older age (14), female sex (12,14,15), education level of less than a Bachelor degree (16,17), experiencing one or more complications (18), longer post-donation hospitalization (12,15,19), and recipient death (6,(15)(16)(17) were predictors of both poor physically and mentally related quality of life scores. Older age (6), Hispanic ethnicity (16), longer time since donation (16), higher body mass index (BMI) (6,12), experiencing problems with health or life insurance (12), and a family discouraging donation (15) was associated with a higher likelihood of a poor physical score.…”

Global experience and perspective on anonymous nondirected live donation in living donor liver transplantation

“…Herein, we report preliminary physical and mental health outcomes assessed in these donors using the Short Form 36 Health Survey (SF‐36) . This standardized tool has been validated and published in greater than 18,000 studies, including multiple studies related to LDLT . Consisting of 36 questions across eight categories, the survey allows comparison of long‐term health outcomes in a study sample to the general US population using correlated physical (PCS c ) and mental (MCS c ) component summary scores .…”

Long-term health-related quality of life of living liver donors: what should the transplant team know?

“…They also reported that donors who had a time of more than 4 weeks from initial explanation to donation had lower vitality and MCS. Janik et al from Poland used the Patient Health Questionnaire 9, which is usually used to diagnose depression, in addition to the SF-36, and reported that 30.6% of donors had evidence of depression after donation, which was prominent in female donors (6).…”