Return to Work and Social Participation: Does Type of Organ Transplantation Matter?

Abstract

Obtaining a paid or voluntary job posttransplantation is possible and should be strongly recommended by transplant professionals as a meaningful way to contribute to the society.

High local unemployment rates limit work after lung transplantation

“…6 Employment rates after LTx fall short of employment rates in the general population and after other types of solid-organ transplantation. 4,7,8 This study confirms that LTx recipients are less likely to work than a comparable cohort of HTx recipients, and demonstrates that high local unemployment rates pose a further barrier to work participation among LTx recipients with no recent history of employment.…”

“…[1][2][3] Although most transplant recipients are of working age and many desire to return to work, unemployment in this group is high and may be higher than among recipients of other solid organ transplants. [4][5][6][7] Returning to work has been associated with improved quality of life and clinical outcomes for solid organ transplant recipients. [6][7][8][9] Despite the benefits of returning to work, only a minority of LTx patients find work post-transplant.…”

“…[6][7][8][9] Despite the benefits of returning to work, only a minority of LTx patients find work post-transplant. 4 Factors limiting post-transplant employment include clinical considerations, patients' precarious position in the labor market, and constraints of the local economy to which these patients return. 5 LTx recipients typically experience long spells of unemployment throughout the transplant process.…”

“…Our secondary hypothesis is that the influence of local macroeconomic conditions is stronger among LTx recipients than among heart transplant (HTx) recipients. 4 Using registry data on transplant recipients and Census Bureau data on local unemployment rates, we quantify the influence of local labor market conditions on return to work among recent LTx and HTx recipients.…”

Quality of life in liver transplant recipients and the influence of sociodemographic factors

“…Another study performed in Cambridge (England) included patients in follow-up of 30 years post-transplant, and demonstrated that receptors of female gender and aged over 60 years were important factors associated with reduced physical functioning of the SF-36 scale (17) . The marital status of participants was in line with findings of a study conducted in Belgium, in which most liver transplant patients were married, corresponding to 69.8% of the sample (18) . The patients' educational level was considered intermediate as 37.3% reported 10-12 years of study, and 40% less than ten years of study.…”