The effect of general health on the psychological well-being of post-operative liver transplantation patients receiving immunosuppressants

INTRODUCTION: This study aims to examine the effect of general health status on the psychological well-being of liver transplant recipients receiving immunosuppressive therapy.
METHODS: This descriptive and cross-sectional study was carried out with the participation of 116 liver transplant recipients at the organ transplant institute of a research and practice hospital. We used personal information form, general health questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12), and psychological well-being (PWB) scale to collect data and performed the data analysis using statistical packed for the social sciences 25.0 by IBM.
RESULTS: Of the participants, 50% were women and between the ages of 51–64 and 52.6% had less income than their expenses; 75.9% of the recipients had a chronic disease, 33.6% had diabetes mellitus, and 25.9% had coronary artery disease. The GHQ-12 total score was high for psychiatric disorders, while the PWB scale score was moderate. There was a statistically significant, positive, and strong relationship between general health and PWB (p<0.05, r=0.022).
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: General health and PWB are two important factors that mutually affect each other. Recognizing the poor psychological state of liver transplant patients and improving their general health contributes to a good postoperative period. During the post-operative period, liver recipients should be carefully monitored, and their psychological state should be improved.