Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 May;38(5):e15328.
doi: 10.1111/ctr.15328.

Psychological assessment of patients on the heart transplant waiting list: A single center experience

Simona De Santis  1 , Valeria Ladisa  1 , Lorenzo Giovannico  1 , Giuseppe Fischetti  1 , Domenico Parigino  1 , Luca Savino  1 , Aline Maria Silva  1 , Nicola Di Bari  1 , Paolo Taurisano  2 , Maria Fara De Caro  2 , Tomaso Bottio  1
Affiliations

Psychological assessment of patients on the heart transplant waiting list: A single center experience

Simona De Santis et al. Clin Transplant. 2024 May.

Abstract

Objective: To analyze the data of the psychological assessment, focusing attention on the quality of life and the psychological status of patients who are listed for heart transplant.

Methods: All heart failure patients listed for heart transplant at the Cardiac Surgery Unit of Bari University, Italy, were evaluated from September to November 2023, by administering the Symptom Checklist-90-R (SCL-90-R) and the Short Form Health Survey 36 (SF-36).

Results: Overall, 27 patients were studied. Mean age was 60 years, 88% were males. One third of the patients showed a clinically significant overall mental distress. The symptoms leading to domains such as somatization (55.55%), anxiety (40.74%) and depression (33.33%) were frequently observed. The majority of the population studied (96.30%) showed low levels of perceived physical health status, while 59,62% of them presented levels of perceived physical health status below normal ranges.

Conclusions: Heart transplant candidates show elements of overall mental distress and low quality of life related to physical health status.

Keywords: depression; patient characteristics; quality of life (QOL); waitlist management.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

REFERENCES

    1. Bunzel B. Psychological aspects of cardiac transplantation. In: Dornelas E, ed. Stress proof the heart: behavioral interventions for cardiac patients. Springer; 2012:119‐135.
    1. Karapolat H, Eyigor S, Zoghi M, et al. Health related quality of life in patients awaiting heart transplantation. Tohoku J Exp Med. 2008;214(1):17‐25.
    1. Cunha S, Miyazaki MC, Villafanha DF, dos Santos Junior R, Domingos NA. Psychological assessment of patients undergoing cardiac transplant in a teaching hospital (2004 to 2012). Revista Brasileira de Cirurgia Cardiovascular : órgão oficial da Sociedade Brasileira de Cirurgia Cardiovascular. 2014;29:350‐354.
    1. Langenbach M, Pietsch D, Köhle K. Emotional stress and subjective body experience of heart transplantation candidates. Transplant Proc. 2006;38(3):735‐736. doi:10.1016/j.transproceed.2006.03.001
    1. Spaderna H, Smits JMA, Rahmel AO, Weidner G. Psychosocial and behavioural factors in heart transplant candidates—an overview. Transplant Int. 2007;20:909‐920. doi:10.1111/j.1432‐2277.2007.00503.x