Published online Oct 27, 2022. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v14.i10.1899
Peer-review started: June 6, 2022
First decision: July 12, 2022
Revised: August 21, 2022
Accepted: September 21, 2022
Article in press: September 21, 2022
Published online: October 27, 2022
The role of pre-donation sociopsychological evaluation of the living donor liver candidate is as important to the success of the procedure as is the medical assessment. Psychological profiling of potential living liver donors (PLLD) and evaluation of quality of life (QOL) can influence outcomes.
Adequately profiling potential donors may help the transplant team to better guide them through the donation processes. Detection of depression and anxiety among potential donors may influence the pre donation evaluation.
Evaluate QOL, depression and anxiety among PLLD.
This was a retrospective cohort study of 250 consecutive PLLD who underwent psychological pre-donation evaluation between 2015 and 2019. All the recipients were children. The Beck anxiety inventory (BAI), Beck depression inventory (BDI), and 36-item short-form health survey (SF-36) scores were used to evaluate anxiety, depression, and QOL, respectively.
A total of 250 PLLD were evaluated. Most of them were women (54.4%), and the mean age was 29.2 ± 7.2 years. A total of 120 (48.8%) PLLD were employed at the time of evaluation for donation; however, most had low income (57% earned < 2 times the minimum wage). Family members were the majority of the. A total of 110 patients (44%) did not finish the donation process. A total of 247 PLLD answered a questionnaire to evaluate depression (BDI), anxiety (BAI), and QOL (SF-36). Prevalence of depression was of 5.2% and anxiety 3.6%.
The socio-demographic findings of this particular population indicated the complexity of the donation process in a setting of low resources. PLLD had a low prevalence of anxiety and depression. Pre-donation psychological evaluation plays a predictive role in post-donation emotional responses and mental health issues. The impact of such findings on the donation process and outcomes needs to be further investigated.
Almost half of the evaluated potential donors did not complete the donation processes. Reasons for not completing the donation process should be further evaluated in other centers as well. To further study the impacts of donation among living liver donors, our group aims to evaluate the post-donation psychological outcome in these donors.