A quality of life study in 20 adult long-term survivors of unrelated donorbone marrow transplantation

There are few specific data available concerning quality of life (QOL) of s urvivors of unrelated donor bone marrow transplantation (UD-BMT). The proce dure is expensive, difficult and is being employed increasingly yet me have little information concerning the QOL of survivors to justify this interve ntion. In this study, 20 long-term (>1 year post-BMT) survivors were studie d,vith four self report questionnaires designed to assess quality of life, satisfaction with life, social support and employment status. Overall, sati sfaction with life measures was above average but there was dissatisfaction with physical strength and appearance, The post-transplant employment data indicates that 60% of long-term survivors returned to full-time work and 1 5% to parttime work, Failure to return to work was not correlated with graf t-versus-host disease (GVHD), relapse, age at or time since transplant. In general, there was a good correlation between the clinician's and patient's view of their health but the clinician's assessment of the patients mental health and energy was higher than the patients reported. Further research is required in the area of QOL post-UD-BMT. This will enable transplant phy sicians to counsel patients better pre-BMT and to evaluate fully the result s achieved by different centres performing the procedure.