The influence of posttransplant anxiety on the long-term health of patients.
We analyzed whether a high level of anxiety in posttransplant patients affected their health, namely, symptoms of anxiety and depression and the quality of life, at 1 year after transplantation. We selected 166 transplant patients (47% liver, 42.8% kidney, and 10.2% heart) of mean age 48.91 years (SD = 11.22). The psychological evaluation was performed in two phases: post-intensive care unit (when the transplant patients were admitted to the transplant unit) and posthospitalization (1 year after organ transplantation). The instruments applied were a "Psychosocial Interview," "The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale," and "Quality of Life Questionnaire." The results showed that a high level of posttransplant anxiety is harmful in the long term to the health of transplant patients: affected individuals showed symptoms of anxiety and depression as well as reduced functioning in social, emotional, physical, and financial areas.
Pérez-San-Gregorio
M A
MA
Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío (Coordinación Sectorial de Trasplantes) and Facultad de Psicología (Departamento de Personalidad, Evaluación y Tratamiento Psicológicos), Sevilla, Spain. anperez@us.es
Martín-Rodríguez
A
A
Díaz-Domínguez
R
R
Pérez-Bernal
J
J
D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D016030:Kidney Transplantation / Q000523:psychology*; D016031:Liver Transplantation / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000523:psychology*; D011788:Quality of Life; D012919:Social Behavior; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology