Study of Quality of Life Among Liver Transplant Candidates in Shiraz, Southwestern Iran

Background: Liver transplant candidates are under stressconditions which affect their Quality of life (QOL), a subject which is not well-understood and is worthy of evaluation. The aim of this study is to determine the socio-demographic variables about QOL of liver transplant candidates.Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was evaluated QOL among 210 liver transplant candidates in Shiraz, Iran. The questionnaire includes demographic and socioeconomic conditions of the patients, in addition to another questionnaire on QOL which comprised 6 dimensions. The statistical analyses used included independent sample t-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). A two-tailed P-value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The results obtained showed that the score off emotion was significantly less than males (P=0.05). Patients aged lower than 30 years and patients with lower BMI had a higher score of QOL (P=0.05). Single patients had lower worries than married (P=0.05). Patients with Governmental Health Insurance were less distressed and had more emotions than patients with other insurances who had a more emotional function(P<0.01). Patients living in geographic location 3 in Iran had less QOL than others (P=0.04. Regarding the etiology of disease, patients with cirrhosis had less QOL than those with Wilson and hepatitis B(P<0.05). Conclusion: The QOL of liver transplant candidates is dependent on gender, age, habitat, marital status, BMI, health insurance, and cirrhosis diagnosis. Because QOL is related to the psychological problem, it is suggested to provide psychological consultations on these variables.