title: Development of a disease-specific questionnaire to measure health-related quality of life in liver transplant recipients.
abstract: Currently, no disease-targeted instrument is available for measuring health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in liver transplant recipients. We developed and tested a post-liver transplant quality of life (pLTQ) instrument. Item selection for the pLTQ instrument was based on responses from liver transplant recipients, 12 liver experts, and a literature search. Impact scores were generated, and a factor analysis was conducted to organize the items into domains. Questions were constructed for each item, and redundant questions were removed. The pLTQ instrument was initially administered to 196 liver transplant patients and then was again administered to 77 patients 6 to 9 months later with a generic HRQOL survey [Medical Outcomes Study Short Form 36 (SF-36)]. Analysis of variance was used to compare the scores of patients at different times since transplantation and with various indications for transplantation. After redundancies were eliminated, the pLTQ instrument included 32 items in 8 domains: Emotional Function, Worry, Medications, Physical Function, Healthcare, Graft Rejection Concern, Financial, and Pain. We found stable pLTQ instrument and SF-36 instrument scores over time. Data 6 to 9 months after the initial assessment indicated stable quality of life outcomes. The pLTQ instrument is applicable to a variety of liver transplant recipients. The questionnaire was tested with a cross-sectional and longitudinal approach.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA. ssaab@mednet.ucla.edu
authors.forename: Sammy
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Saab
authors.forename: Vivian
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ng
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Landaverde
authors.forename: Sung-Jae
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: W Scott
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Comulada
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Arevalo
authors.forename: Francisco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Durazo
authors.forename: Steven-Huy
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Zobari
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Younossi
authors.forename: Ronald W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Busuttil
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D016031:Liver Transplantation / Q000379:methods* / Q000523:psychology*; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011594:Psychometrics; D011788:Quality of Life; D012306:Risk; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome