Post-traumatic stress disorders, mood disorders, and quality of life in transplant recipients with acute liver failure.

Objective: The objective of this study was to assess post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, and quality of life among acute hepatitis patients undergoing liver transplantation.

Method: Twenty-four patients underwent transplantation due to acute liver failure. After a brief anamnestic interview to gather demographic and clinical information, each participant underwent a psychological assessment using the SF-36 Health Survey (SF-36), Impact of Events Scale-Revised (IES-R), Hospital Anxiety and Depression (HAD) Scale, as well as Beck Depression Inventory (BDI).

Results: The average age of the patients was 41.17 years (±17.03); the mean time after transplantation was 13.50 ± 13.80 months; 83% of the subjects were women. Anxiety symptoms were observed in 33.2% of the participants and depression in 16.7% by HAD and 45.8% by BDI. By IES-R 46.2% of patients presented high to severe levels of stress. The majority of participants (54.2%) showed good quality of life scores. A correlation analysis indicated a significant negative association between SF-36 score and other scales (from -0.514 to -0.681). Upon a comparative analysis, a significant difference between groups was only noted in SF-36 score (P = .032).

Conclusion: The results led us to conclude that anxiety, depression, and PTSD were negatively associated with quality of life in this population. These symptoms also contributed directly to determine well-being among these patients.