Evaluation of psychosocial conditions and quality of life in patients with liver transplant

Objective: In our study, we aimed to investigate the prevalence of long-term psychiatric disorders in patients with liver transplantation, the risk factors associated with these disorders, and to compare the quality of life of transplanted patients with the healthy population. Material and Method: Between 07.05.2019 and 07.11.2019, 60 healthy volunteers and 60 patients who received liver transplants from Inönü University Turgut Özal Medical Center more than a year ago were enrolled in the study. Thus, two groups, the Liver Transplant Group (LTG) and the Healthy Volunteer Group (HVG), were created. To all participants; Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5 Disorders (SCID-5 / CV), Short Form-36 (KF-36), Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D), Beck Anxiety Scale (BAI) were applied and the Sociodemographic Information Form was filled. In addition, Recipient Data Form was filled in patients with LTG, and Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) was filled in patients with Paradoxical Psychiatric Syndrome. Thus, observational-cross-sectional evaluations were made. Results: Psychiatric disorder was detected in 36.7% of patients in LTG. A relationship was established between the variables of "female gender, not being married, having a psychiatric history in the resume, having at least one serious complication after transplantation, and end-stage KC failure due to diseases other than viral etiology" and the presence of current psychiatric disorders. When LTG is evaluated with KF-36; it had statistically significantly lower scores in the Physical Function, Physical Role Challenge, Emotional Role Challenge and Social Functionality subscales compared to healthy volunteer participants (p <0.05). KF-36 of patients with liver transplantation with current psychiatric disorder; except for the Physical Function subscale, all subscales were significantly lower than patients without current psychiatric disorders. On the Mental Health subscale of KF-36; the scores of patients without any psychiatric disorder in LTG were statistically significantly higher than HVG. On the General Health Perception subscale, both groups had similar scores. It was found that KF-36 subscale scores of "Mental Health" and "General Health Perception" were higher than patients who were transplanted due to viral hepatitis compared to patients who were transplanted due to other etiologies (p = 0.024). It was determined that two (3.63%) of patients in LTG developed Paradoxical Psychiatric Syndrome. Conclusion: In our study, the frequency of psychiatric disorders in the late period after liver transplantation was found to be considerably higher even after excluding psychiatric disorders associated with alcohol and substance use disorders. In addition, many dimensions of quality of life in the long term after liver transplantation were found to be lower than the healthy population.