Assessment of quality of life in lung transplantation using a simple generic tool

Background-The EuroQol is a generic questionnaire developed to provide a si mple method for assigning utility values to health. This study examines the applicability of the EuroQol to the measurement of quality of life in sing le, bilateral, and heart-lung transplantation. Methods-A cross sectional study was performed in 87 patients awaiting lung transplantation and in 255 transplant recipients attending follow up clinic s in four transplant units. Results-In the waiting List group 61% reported extreme problems in at least one of the five EuroQol quality of life domains compared with 20% single l ung recipients, 4% bilateral lung recipients, and 2% heart-lung recipients at 3 or more years after transplantation. The mean utility value of patient s on the waiting list was 0.31, Zn comparison, utility values for recipient s 3 years after transplantation were 0.61 for single, 0.82 for bilateral, a nd 0.87 for heart-lung transplants. The utility scores and health profiles of bilateral and heart-lung recipients were consistently superior to those of single lung recipients. Problems in all five domains were more frequent in single lung recipients. Subjective assessment with a visual analogue sca le showed a similar trend. Conclusions-The EuroQol is a simple method of deriving a single utility val ue for quality of life and is responsive to changes after lung transplantat ion. It is worth considering as a means of monitoring quality of life after transplantation and as an index of quality of survival in research studies in solid organ transplantation. These data suggest that quality of hfe aft er transplantation of one lung is inferior to that after transplantation of two lungs.