Sympotms prevalence and beliefs in maintenance liver transplant patients

Exploring the prevalence of symptoms in liver transplantation (LT) in view of reducing nonadherence (NA) to immunosuppression (IS) is crucial. We report the results of a single-center, cross-sectional study on symptoms prevalence and beliefs among consenting, maintenance (≥ 6 months), adult LT recipients. The prevalence of symptoms over the last 4 weeks was investigated with a structured questionnaire consisting of 15 items that were identifi ed in previous qualitative research as relevant to organ transplant recipients. Out of 368 potentially eligible candidates, 311 satisfi ed the inclusion criteria and were contacted. Two hundred sixty-eight (86.1%) responded to the questionnaires and were included in the analysis (M:F = 207:61; mean age 54.4 ± 8.9 years). The fi ve most prevalent were fatigue (48.5%), back pain (43.3%), joint pain (39.9%), sleep disturbance (36.5%), and weight gain (33.9%). On the opposite, the symptoms most frequently thought to be correlated with IS were tremors (75.8%), increased hair growth (77.3%), loss of muscular strength (67.4%), blurred vision (65.4%), and fatigue (65.4%). 56.7% of patients reporting symptoms believe that these are related to IS. These data underscore the need for constant patient education and monitoring to reduce the risk for nonadherence to IS