Employment and alcohol use after liver transplantation for alcoholic and nonalcoholic liver disease: a systematic review.
The purpose of the study is to evaluate patterns of employment and alcohol use among liver transplant recipients with alcoholic (ALD) and nonalcoholic liver disease (non-ALD). MEDLINE, EMBASE, and bibliographic searches identified 5,505 potentially relevant articles published between January 1966 and October 1998. Eighty-two studies reporting data on 5,020 transplant recipients met our inclusion criteria. Pre-orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT), 29% of transplant recipients with ALD and 59% of those with non-ALD worked versus 33% and 80% at 3 years for transplant recipients with ALD and non-ALD, respectively (P <.00001 for each interval). We found no difference in the proportion of transplant recipients with ALD and non-ALD reporting early alcohol use post-OLT: 4% versus 5% at 6 months and 17% versus 16% at 12 months. However, among post-OLT drinkers, transplant recipients with non-ALD were more likely to drink moderately and those with ALD to drink excessively. At 7 years post-OLT, 32% of the patients with ALD reported using alcohol. The odds ratio for alcohol use among patients who maintained abstinence for fewer than 6 months pre-OLT versus those who maintained abstinence for greater than 6 months was 7.8 (95% confidence interval, 4.0 to 15.3). Before OLT and at long-term follow-up, substantially more transplant recipients with non-ALD than ALD were employed. The proportions of transplant recipients with ALD and non-ALD reporting alcohol use did not differ, although those with ALD tended to consume greater quantities.
Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care System, Palo Alto, CA, USA. bravata@healthpolicy.stanford.edu
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Bravata
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Olkin
A E
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Barnato
E B
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Keeffe
D K
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Owens
D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking; D004651:Employment; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000601:surgery*; D008108:Liver Diseases, Alcoholic / Q000601:surgery; D016031:Liver Transplantation; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio