title: Health status of the patients before lung transplantation: a report from Iran.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Breathing is essential for living. When someone is a lung transplantation candidate, it could be imagined that the breathing difficulties that he/she is experiencing has a great impact on his/her health status.
  
  
  METHODS
  We asked all the patients on the lung transplantation waiting list at Masih Daneshvari Hospital to complete the validated Iranian version of Global Health Questionnaire (GHQ). It was the 28-item version of the questionnaire with scores ranging from 0 to 84. Patients filled the questionnaire while on routine out-patients visits. The higher scores represent greater distress.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Seventy patients were requested to participate in the present study out of which 64 filled the questionnaire completely. Mean +/-SD (min-max) scores of the questionnaire subscales were as follows: somatic symptoms =8.2+/-4.2; anxiety =8.1+/-4.9; 8-14, depression =4+/-4.2; social dysfunction =10.4+/-4 and the overall score =30.6+/-9.5. There was no significant difference in the subscales of the questionnaire based on gender and disease type. Higher age was associated with less social dysfunction (r=-273, p=0.023). Higher level of prednisolone consumption and lower hemoglobin were associated with poorer somatic status (r=0.644, p=0.033; r=-0.410, 0.030 respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings indicate that lung transplantation candidates have extremely poor health state. It seems that pulmonary problems and activity limitations put more pressure on younger patients and causes social difficulties.
authors.affiliation: Lung transplantation Research Center, National Research Institute of Tuberclosis and lung Disease, Shaheed Beheshti Medical University, Tehran , Iran. katynajafi@gmail.com
authors.forename: Katayoun
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Najafizadeh
authors.forename: Fariba
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ghorbani
authors.forename: Ameneh
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rostami
authors.forename: Anis
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fard Mosavi
authors.forename: Shervin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Assari
authors.forename: Maryam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Moghani Lankarani
authors.forename: Elham
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Farrokh Nia
authors.forename: Habib
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Emami
authors.forename: Seyed-Mehran
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Marashian
authors.forename: Mohammad-Reza
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Masjedi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran; D016040:Lung Transplantation; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D055815:Young Adult