title: Quality of life after liver transplantation: State of the art.
abstract: Quality of life (QoL) after deceased donor liver transplantation is increasingly recognized as a major outcome parameter. We reviewed recent publications in this rapidly evolving field in order to summarize recent achievements in the field and to define opportunities and perspectives for research and improvement of patient care. QoL does improve after liver transplantation according to a typical pattern. During the first year, there is a significant improvement in QoL. After one year, the improvement does stabilise and tends to decline slightly. In addition to the physical condition, different psychological parameters (such as depression, anxiety, sexual function) and sociodemographic elements (professional state, sex, marital state) seem to impact QoL. Opportunities for further research are the use of dedicated questionnaires and identification of influencing factors for QoL.
authors.affiliation: Louis Onghena, Wouter Develtere, Anja Geerts, Hans Van Vlierberghe, Xavier Verhelst, Department of Hepatology and Gastroenterology, Ghent University Hospital, 9000 Ghent, East Flanders, Belgium.
authors.forename: Louis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Onghena
authors.affiliation: Louis Onghena, Wouter Develtere, Anja Geerts, Hans Van Vlierberghe, Xavier Verhelst, Department of Hepatology and Gastroenterology, Ghent University Hospital, 9000 Ghent, East Flanders, Belgium.
authors.forename: Wouter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Develtere
authors.affiliation: Louis Onghena, Wouter Develtere, Anja Geerts, Hans Van Vlierberghe, Xavier Verhelst, Department of Hepatology and Gastroenterology, Ghent University Hospital, 9000 Ghent, East Flanders, Belgium.
authors.forename: Carine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Poppe
authors.affiliation: Louis Onghena, Wouter Develtere, Anja Geerts, Hans Van Vlierberghe, Xavier Verhelst, Department of Hepatology and Gastroenterology, Ghent University Hospital, 9000 Ghent, East Flanders, Belgium.
authors.forename: Anja
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Geerts
authors.affiliation: Louis Onghena, Wouter Develtere, Anja Geerts, Hans Van Vlierberghe, Xavier Verhelst, Department of Hepatology and Gastroenterology, Ghent University Hospital, 9000 Ghent, East Flanders, Belgium.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Troisi
authors.affiliation: Louis Onghena, Wouter Develtere, Anja Geerts, Hans Van Vlierberghe, Xavier Verhelst, Department of Hepatology and Gastroenterology, Ghent University Hospital, 9000 Ghent, East Flanders, Belgium.
authors.forename: Aude
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vanlander
authors.affiliation: Louis Onghena, Wouter Develtere, Anja Geerts, Hans Van Vlierberghe, Xavier Verhelst, Department of Hepatology and Gastroenterology, Ghent University Hospital, 9000 Ghent, East Flanders, Belgium.
authors.forename: Frederik
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Berrevoet
authors.affiliation: Louis Onghena, Wouter Develtere, Anja Geerts, Hans Van Vlierberghe, Xavier Verhelst, Department of Hepatology and Gastroenterology, Ghent University Hospital, 9000 Ghent, East Flanders, Belgium.
authors.forename: Xavier
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Rogiers
authors.affiliation: Louis Onghena, Wouter Develtere, Anja Geerts, Hans Van Vlierberghe, Xavier Verhelst, Department of Hepatology and Gastroenterology, Ghent University Hospital, 9000 Ghent, East Flanders, Belgium.
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Van Vlierberghe
authors.affiliation: Louis Onghena, Wouter Develtere, Anja Geerts, Hans Van Vlierberghe, Xavier Verhelst, Department of Hepatology and Gastroenterology, Ghent University Hospital, 9000 Ghent, East Flanders, Belgium.
authors.forename: Xavier
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Verhelst
keywords: Demographic factors; Epidemiologic factors; Liver transplantation; Mental health; Quality of life; Sociological factors