Aim: With increased survival rates after liver transplantation, studies have focused on improving the quality of life in these patients. The purpose of this study is to assess the quality of life levels of recipients after liver transplantation.
Materials and Methods: This descriptive study was conducted with 103 voluntary patients between January 01-May 15, 2015. The sample of the study consisted of the patients who had liver transplantation and met the inclusion criteria. The data were collected using personal and disease information form and SF-36 health survey.
Results: It was found in the study that the mean score of the Physical Component Summary (PCS) was 39.90±8.53 and the mean score of the Mental Component Summary (MCS) was 43.93±9.86. The patients who underwent liver transplantation had a moderate quality of life. Physical health quality of life was higher in male and single patients than the others. The mental health quality of life enhanced with increasing level of education. Another finding of the study indicated that physical health quality of life enhanced as the time elapsed after transplantation increased. Besides, the physical health life quality of the patients who didnt have any condition prolonging post-operative hospitalisation was higher compared to those who had such condition and also the physical health life quality of those who underwent transplantation from a cadaver donor was higher compared to those who underwent transplantation from a live donor. In addition, patients with chronic diseases had lower physical health quality of life.
Conclusion: Although many complications develop in most of the patients, liver transplantation can make the patient more functional in many areas of life compared to their pre-transplantation life. The patients should be referred to other departments regularly to keep chronic diseases under control.
Keywords: Liver Transplantation; Quality of Life; SF-36; Nursing
Key words: Liver Transplantation; Quality of Life; SF-36; Nursing
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