Psychosocial Problems of Donor Heart Recipients Adversely Affecting Quality of Life

Heart transplantation has become an accepted therapy for patients suffering from terminal heart disease for whom neither standard forms of medication nor the usual surgery are of any benefit. Although results regarding postoperative quantity and quality of life are encouraging, it must not be overlo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Quality of life research 1992-10, Vol.1 (5), p.307-313
Main Authors: Bunzel, B, Wollenek, G, Grundböck, A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptation, Psychological
Adult
Anxiety
Emotions
Family relations
Fear
Female
Heart
Heart diseases
Heart transplantation
Heart Transplantation - psychology
Humans
Interpersonal Relations
Life Style
Male
Middle Aged
Organ donation
Quality of Life
Retrospective Studies
Social Behavior
Telephones
Time Factors
Transplantation
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Summary:Heart transplantation has become an accepted therapy for patients suffering from terminal heart disease for whom neither standard forms of medication nor the usual surgery are of any benefit. Although results regarding postoperative quantity and quality of life are encouraging, it must not be overlooked that the patient and his family face, and have to overcome, profound psychosocial problems. The main stressors were identified in interviews with 47 heart transplant patients. The main preoperative problems were: the way of being informed about the diagnosis, the waiting period for transplantation, anguishing doubts about the decision to have a transplant, being a body without heart ('zombie'), guilt and shame regarding the donor, the reactions of others. Postoperatively the patients have to cope with: re-entering social systems, reactions of friends, neighbours and colleagues, rejection episodes, death of a fellow patient, the need to redesign family life. All the problems reported by the patients interviewed are discussed regarding their psychosocial implications, and hints are given on how to minimize them.
ISSN:0962-9343
1573-2649
DOI:10.1007/BF00434944