Health-related quality of life after liver transplantation: the experience from a single Chinese center.
BACKGROUND
Few studies have been performed to assess health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in liver transplantation (LT) patients in the mainland of China. This study aimed to investigate the HRQOL of post-LT patients in a single center.


METHODS
HRQOL was evaluated by the SF-36 (Chinese version) questionnaire in 60 patients (LT group) who had received LT for benign end-stage liver disease (BELD). Fifty-five patients with BELD (BELD group) and 50 healthy volunteers from the general population (GP group) were also evaluated, and the results were compared among the three groups.


RESULTS
There was a significant difference among the three groups in terms of the scores of eight domains in the SF-36 (P<0.01). Patients in the BELD group had lower scores in each domain of the SF-36 in comparison with those in the GP group (P<0.025). The LT group had mental health scores equivalent to those of the BELD group (P>0.025), but higher scores for the remaining seven domains (P<0.025). Compared with the GP group, the LT group scored equivalently for role physical, body pain, vitality, social function and role emotion (P>0.025), but had lower scores for the remaining three domains (P<0.025). Lower family income was found to be associated with reduced physical function and mental health scores (P<0.05). Better education was associated with increased mental health scores (P<0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
LT patients generally have a good HRQOL although some respects of their HRQOL remains to be improved. Lower family income and poor education are important factors relating to the poor HRQOL of LT patients.
Department of Hepatic Surgery and Liver Transplant Center, Third Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China. chgh1955@263.net
Gen-Shu
GS
Wang
Yang
Y
Yang
Hua
H
Li
Nan
N
Jiang
Bin-Sheng
BS
Fu
Hai
H
Jin
Jian-Xu
JX
Yang
Gui-Hua
GH
Chen
D000328:Adult; D044466:Asian People; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002681:China; D004522:Educational Status; D058625:End Stage Liver Disease / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D016031:Liver Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health / Q000208:ethnology; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011788:Quality of Life; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome