Quality of Life and Anxiety Status following Donor Liver Transplantation

Abstract

Study objective: Anxiety disorder, which is encountered in surgical patients receiving general anesthesia is a psychological and physical condition, characterized by sudden onset of hazard perception and extensive fear, and may lead to panic disorder. In this study, we aimed to determine anxiety levels of liver transplantation donors via a questionnaire and reveal their quality of life and anxiety status during the 1st postoperative day and month. Design: Prospective observational study. Setting: In the critical care. Patients: Following the Ethics Committee approval, forty subjects of both sexes, between the ages of 18 and 75 years, who were on the list of liver transplant donors were included in the study. Interventions: A 10-item anxiety and quality of life questionnaire was prepared using scales applied to surgical patients, such as the Amsterdam Preoperative Anxiety and Information Scale for preoperative anxiety, the Spielburger State-Trait Anxiety and Inventory and the Profile of Mood States on the 1st postoperative day and month. Measurements: Data regarding the donor’s age, sex, marital status, educational background, history of previous surgeries, the degree of affinity between donor and the recipient, number and age of their children, and duration of patient’s disease were recorded. Main results: On the first day and in the first month, the total score on questions “I am worried about anesthesia” was significantly lower than the total scores on the questions “I am worried about the success of the surgical procedure” and “I am worried about the risk of anesthesia-related mortality” (p = 0.007 and p = 0.001, respectively). Conclusions: Many living donors are motivated to make their decision on this procedure in a short time. We believe that allocating more time to informing patients and donors and holding information meetings on anesthesia and surgical procedures at intervals may be beneficial.