HEALTH-RELATED QUALITY-OF-LIFE FOLLOWING LIVER-TRANSPLANTATION

The objectives of this study were to report on the health-related qual ity of life (QoL) experienced by patients following liver transplantat ion and to investigate the factors associated with its variation. A qu estionnaire comprising the SF-36 and EuroQol EQ-5D instruments was sen t by post to 147 patients who had received a liver transplant, indicat ed by a chronic liver disease, in the previous 8 years. The scores of the respondents were compared to population norm scores. The variation in both the SF-36 and EQ-5D scores was explored. Many liver transplan t patients experienced most satisfactory QoL levels posttransplantatio n although, in general terms, the levels were poorer than those seen i n the general population. The variation in the post-transplant health- related QoL scores was found to be associated with a number of pre-tra nsplant factors: disease severity (proxied by Child Pugh class), disea se duration at the time of transplantation and liver transplant histor y (whether the patient had received a single or multiple transplants). In making clinical decisions about the use of transplantation for chr onic liver diseases, consideration should be given to the key factors likely to affect subsequent health-related QoL.