Factors correlated with the emergence of depressive symptoms in Egyptian donors after living donor liver transplantation

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Living donor liver transplantation has recently emerged as an effective therapeutic alternative for patients with end-stage liver disease. Little is known about psychosocial outcome and psychiatric complications after living donor liver transplantation. AIM OF THE STUDY: The aim of the study was to investigate the rate of depressive symptoms in Egyptian liver donors postdonation and to assess the risk factors associated with the development of such depressive symptoms. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The present study evaluated 33 donor candidates who were introduced to donate after all medical and psychological tests being free. All participants were interviewed using designed questionnaire for personal history, relationship to recipient, and satisfaction about donation, Beck Depression Inventory, Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, and D-scale of Guilford Inventory of Personality Factors. RESULTS: At the first visit, 12.1% had depressive symptoms on Beck Depression Inventory; on follow-up, the rate of depressive symptoms had increased to 27.3% at the second visit. However, in the subsequent visits, the rates of depressive symptoms declined again to 15.2% at the third and to 15.1% at the fourth visits. Female sex, low educational level, managerial job, related as sib to the recipient, presence of depressive personality traits, and high scores in the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire psychoticism were found to be independent risk factors correlated with the development of depressive symptoms in liver donors. CONCLUSION: With careful preoperative psychiatric assessment and postoperative monitoring of liver donors, the development of depression could be identified and treated. Moreover, identifying risk factors correlated with the development of depression could aid in the selection of donors. © 2014 Institute of Psychiatry, Ain Shams University.