| Abstract [eng] |
The aim of the research work was to investigate the life quality changes in patients after liver transplantation. Research goals: To examine how patients evaluate their own physical state. To study the patients’ mental and social health after liver transplantation. To describe the patients’ experience after liver transplantation. Patients and methods: The study was a review of 8 patients after liver transplantation (Vilnius University Hospital, Santariskiu Clinics). A quantitative research method has been used for this study. To achieve the objectives and goals of this study, in-depth follow-up interviews have been used. Content analysis has been used for data processing. Results: The study has shown that the patients before liver transplantation evaluated their quality of life as negative in all areas except for interpersonal family relations. The life quality rises dramatically, with observable changes already during a three month period after surgery. It is especially noticeable in physical state. A fall in life quality evaluation is shown before surgery, particularly the physical state: the patients experienced different clinical symptoms, decrease in physical activity, worse assessment of a general state. It is possible to claim, that the longer the illness was, the worse the patients‘quality of life and the physical states were. There were no signs of symptoms after surgery. Although, patients have to keep certain restrictions in their everyday life in order to keep their health (avoid exertion, cold, keep a diet and a therapeutic regimen, avoid infections etc.) During the patients‘psychoemotional state‘s evaluation before surgery, it is shown, that the diagnosis and the need in transplantation cause strong psychological experience that effects their life in all possible ways. As illness progresses, memory impairments occur, orientation and attention concentration impairments are possible. With the evaluation after surgery, these impairments are not generally present. The respondents are generally calm and do not feel any discomfort about the transplanted organ. The respondents after surgery and during all the treatment period were generally supported by their counterparts. Interpersonal family relations are generally intact or grow stronger. The respondents generally do not work after surgery, with some exceptions. Half of the respondents noticed unpleasant changes in their financial state. Leisure time does not generally change. The study has shown the main respondents‘problems: the lack of information and knowledge about their illness, complications, liver transplantation surgery and the changes in life quality afterwards; there is also a lack of pshichological support from patients who have already undergone this type of transplantation; postoperative rehabilitation absence; the need in a financial support as a consequence of money shortage. The study has shown that each person is unique, and each one of them subjectively evaluates the quality of his life, its present and possible alterations. The subjective person‘s experience is very important for life quality analysis, and is something that is worth trying to understand. Physical, mental and social health are complex factors that can not be evaluated without the person‘s life context. That is the reason why the person‘s subjective assessment is extremely important for convalescence evaluation. |
