Analysis of health-related quality-of-life in donors of pediatric liver transplantation

Objective To explore the health-related quality-of-life of pediatric liver transplant donors and examine the principal influencing factors of quality-of-life. Methods A total of 86 consecutive pediatric liver transplant donors undergoing hepatectomy were recruited from West China Hospital of Sichuan University and Children's Hospital, Chongqing Medical University between January 2005 and December 2014.Health-related quality-of-life was measured with the Chinese version of Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36 (SF-36). All participants fulfilled the criteria of left hepatic resection without middle hepatic vein involvement or left lateral lobectomy, no severe medical complications and communicating influent Chinese.The survey results were compared with those of general population.And the influencing factors of quality-of-life were also explored. Results A total of 80 questionnaires were distributed in accordance with the selection criteria and 71 (88.7%) returned.There were 24 males and 47 females with an average age of 29.4±8.0 years.The recipients had biliary atresia (BA, n=35), metabolic liver disease (n=15), primary hepatocirrhosis (n=11) and hepatic tumors (n=10). Most donors were recipients' parents.In general, all dimensions of health-related quality-of-life in donors were favorable as compared with general population (P>0.05). Mental health scores in donors donated to BA were better than those to non-BA (P=0.029). General health scores were lower in donors without recipients' medical insurance than those with recipients' medical insurance (P=0.033). Regarding physical functioning (P=0.038) and bodily pain (P=0.040), donors >2 years after surgery scored higher than those <2 years.Based upon principal component analysis, 8 dimensions of SF-36 were integrated into one single dimension.The Results indicated that time since surgery was a principal influencing factor of donors' quality-of-life (P=0.037). Conclusions The outcomes of health-related quality-of-life are favorable for pediatric liver transplant donors.Time since surgery, recipient's primary disease and medical insurance may impact the donors' postoperative quality-of-life significantly. Key words: Quality of life; Questionnaire; Liver transplantation; Living donor; Biliary atresia