Quality of life, religiosity, and anxiety and depressive symptoms in liver transplantation candidates

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate quality of life, religiosity and anxiety and depressive symptoms in liver transplant candidates. METHOD: An epidemiological and cross-sectional study carried out with liver transplant candidates attended at the outpatient clinic of a University Hospital from 2014 to 2016. RESULTS: Fifty (50) patients with a mean age of 52.5 years old participated in the study, predominantly male (58.0%), having access to primary education (48.0%), Model for End-Stage Liver Disease between 10-19 and having viral hepatitis as the main etiology. They presented an average quality of life score (4.1), high intrinsic religiosity index (5.6) and the presence of anxiety (52.0%) and depressive symptoms (48.0%). It was possible to observe an association between religiosity and quality of life in the worry domain, with higher non-organizational religiosity leading to higher quality of life; anxiety and depressive symptoms were not associated with quality of life and religiosity. However, patients with higher levels of education were more likely to present depressive symptoms. CONCLUSION: The analysis of quality of life and religiosity was significant, reinforcing the need for the care team to consider religiosity as a coping strategy for the disease.