Psychosocial aspects of the organ transplant experience: What has been established and what we need for the future

This article briefly describes the current status and limitations of the or gan transplant process that has now become a routine medical procedure. The article discusses how transplantation is not a cure for end-stage organ di sease but an alternative form of treatment with both potential medical and psychosocial problems. Both transplant candidates and recipients encounter psychosocial problems. The article examines how these psychosocial problems affect transplant patients prior to transplant, immediately following surg ery, and posttransplant. The psychosocial problems include psychiatric diag noses, individual and family adjustment and relationship problems, sexual d ysfunction, return-to-work (RTW) difficulties. and compliance problems and variables related to noncompliance. The article also reviews the special pr oblems of pediatric and adolescent transplant recipients. The need for empi rically supported interventions is noted in each of the problem areas. The author outlines problems with previous research studies that hamper solid i nterpretations of the data, and discusses literature suggesting that the ps ychosocial problems of transplant candidates and recipients are likely to b e underreported. The article concludes with recommendations about the need to switch research efforts toward intervention studies in the problem areas already solidly identified by the literature. (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.