Longterm health-related quality of life after living liver donation.
There are little data on longterm outcomes, health-related quality of life (HRQoL), and issues related to living donor right hepatectomy specifically. We studied longterm HRQoL in 127 living liver donors. A donor-specific survey (DSS) was used to evaluate the living liver donor morbidity, and the 36-item short-form health survey (short-form 36 health survey, version 1 [SF-36]) was used to assess generic outcomes. The DSS was completed by 107 (84.3%) donors and the SF-36 by 62 (49%) donors. Median follow-up was 6.9 years. Of the 107 donors, 12 (11.2%) donors reported their health as better, whereas 84 (78.5%) reported their health the same as before donation. Ninety-seven (90.7%) are currently employed. The most common postdonation symptom was incisional discomfort (34%). Twenty-four donors (22.4%) self-reported depression symptoms after donation. Ninety-eight (91.6%) rated their satisfaction with the donation process ≥ 8 (scale of 1-10). Three factors-increased vitality (correlation, 0.44), decreased pain (correlation, 0.34), and a recipient who was living (correlation, 0.44)-were independently related to satisfaction with the donor experience. Vitality showed the strongest association with satisfaction with the donor experience. Mental and physical component summary scale scores for donors were statistically higher compared to the US population norm (P < 0.001). Donors reported a high satisfaction rate with the donation process, and almost all donors (n = 104, 97.2%) would donate again independent of experiencing complications. Our study suggests that over a longterm period, liver donors continue to have above average HRQoL compared to the general population.
Department of Surgery, Case Western Reserve University Hospital, Cleveland, OH.|Department of Surgery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN.
Vanessa R
VR
Humphreville
Department of Surgery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN.
David M
DM
Radosevich
Department of Surgery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN.
Abhinav
A
Humar
Department of Surgery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN.
William D
WD
Payne
Department of Surgery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN.
Raja
R
Kandaswamy
Department of Medicine, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN.
John R
JR
Lake
Department of Surgery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN.
Arthur J
AJ
Matas
Department of Surgery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN.
Timothy L
TL
Pruett
Department of Surgery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN.
Srinath
S
Chinnakotla
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006498:Hepatectomy / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D016031:Liver Transplantation; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008910:Minnesota / Q000453:epidemiology; D017060:Patient Satisfaction / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014019:Tissue Donors / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult