title: Health-related quality of life in Egyptian patients after liver transplantation.
abstract: INTRODUCTION-AIM: Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) has become an important focus of patient care and clinical outcomes research with the improvement in patient and graft survival after liver transplantation (LT). The current study was designed to evaluate the post-transplant HRQOL profiles using the Liver Disease Quality of Life 1.0 (LDQOL 1.0) Questionnaire and demonstrate the possible effect of peri-transplant clinical covariates on these profiles.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants included pre-transplant group (waiting-list patients n = 50) and post-transplant group (mean 5 ± 4 years after deceased or living donor LT n = 103) who were recruited from 3 specialized centers in Egypt. We applied the LDQOL 1.0 questionnaire; a 111-item containing the Short Form-36 version 2.0 (SF-36v2) as a generic component supplemented by 75 disease-specific items. The etiology of cirrhosis, co-morbidities, model for end-stage liver disease (MELD), Child-Pugh class and post-operative complications were analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All recipients had significant higher HRQOL scores than patients in waiting-list using both questionnaire components. Recipients with pre-LT MELD ≥ 15, Child-Pugh class C, history of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) demonstrated low HRQOL scores. Recipients without post-operative surgical complications had a statistically better HRQOL using the disease-specific, but not the SF-36v2 component. On the other hand, both components demonstrated non-significant lower scores in recipients with rejection episodes, cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection and hepatitis C recurrence had compared to those without medical complications.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Generally HRQOL improves dramatically after LT as assessed by LDQOL questionnaire. Moreover, combined questionnaires can provide accurate information about the possible impaired HRQOL post-LT due to pre-transplant disease severity and post-operative complications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Endemic Medicine and Hepatology, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Egypt.
authors.forename: Mahasen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mabrouk
authors.forename: Gamal
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Esmat
authors.forename: Ayman
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yosry
authors.forename: Magdy
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: El-Serafy
authors.forename: Wahid
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Doss
authors.forename: Naglaa
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Zayed
authors.forename: Medhat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: El-Sahhar
authors.forename: Sally
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Awny
authors.forename: Ashraf
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Omar
mesh_terms: D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D015897:Comorbidity; D004534:Egypt; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology / Q000601:surgery*; D016031:Liver Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000523:psychology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014850:Waiting Lists