QUALITY-OF-LIFE AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS OF BONE-MARROW TRANSPLANT RECIPIENTS - THE TIME TRAJECTORY TO RECOVERY OVER THE FIRST YEAR

The purpose of this study was to measure the trajectory of psychosocia l recovery over the first year after bone marrow transplantation (BMT) , BMT patients were assessed at baseline (n = 86), hospital discharge (n = 74), 100 days (n = 64) and at 1 year (n = 45), Participants compl eted the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Bone Marrow Transplan t Scale (FACT-BMT), the Profile of Mood States Total Mood Disturbance Scale (POMS-TMDS), the Medical Outcomes Social Support Survey (MOS-SSS ), the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression (CES-D) scale scree ner, a performance Status Rating Scale (PSR), and an interview questio nnaire, The recovery trajectory in this patient population showed thre e distinct trends, The trajectory for distress was linear and improved over time with approximately 20% of patients continuing tb have psych ological distress at 1 year, Secondly, the trend for overall quality o f life was parabolic, worsening at discharge, then improving at 100 da ys and at 1 year, However, there were individual areas of deficit at f ollow-up, eg fatigue, even while overall quality of life mean scores i mproved, Thirdly, the trend for patient concerns over time was linear and worsening, These recovery trajectories suggest psychosocial interv entions before and after BMT that may prepare patients for increasing and worsening concerns even as physical well-being improves.