Alcohol Consumption Post-Liver Transplantation: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Listing patients with alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD) for liver transplant (LT) remains challenging especially due to the risk of alcohol resumption post-LT. We aimed to evaluate post-LT alcohol consumption at a Portuguese transplant center. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study including LT recipients from 2019 at Curry Cabral Hospital, Lisbon, Portugal. A pretested survey and a validated Portuguese translation of the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT) were applied via a telephone call. Alcohol consumption was defined by patients' self-reports or a positive AUDIT. Results: In 2019, 122 patients underwent LT, and 99 patients answered the survey (June 2021). The mean (SD) age was 57 (10) years, 70 patients (70.7%) were males, and 49 (49.5%) underwent ALD-related LT. During a median (IQR) follow-up of 24 (20-26) months post-index LT, 22 (22.2%) recipients consumed any amount of alcohol: 14 had a drink monthly or less and 8 drank 2-4 times/month. On drinking days, 18 patients usually consumed 1-2 drinks and the remainder no more than 3-4 drinks. One patient reported having drunk ≥6 drinks on one occasion. All post-LT drinking recipients were considered low risk (score <8) as per the AUDIT score (median [IQR] of 1 [1-2]). No patient reported alcohol-related problems, whether self-inflicted or toward others. Drinking recipients were younger (53 vs. 59 years, p = 0.020), had more non-ALD-related LT (72.7 vs. 44.2%, p = 0.018) and active smoking (31.8 vs. 10.4%, p = 0.037) than abstinent ones. Conclusion: In our cohort, about a quarter of LT recipients consumed alcohol early posttransplant, all with a low-risk pattern according to the AUDIT score.

Introdução: Incluir doentes com doença hepática associada ao álcool (DHA) em lista ativa de transplante hepático (TH) é desafiante, especialmente pelo risco de recidiva de consumo de álcool pós-TH. O objetivo foi avaliar o consumo de álcool pós-TH num centro de transplantação português. Métodos: Realizamos um estudo transversal incluindo doentes submetidos a TH em 2019 no Hospital Curry Cabral, Lisboa, Portugal. Foi realizado um questionário previamente testado e uma tradução validada para o português do Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT), através de uma chamada telefónica. O consumo de álcool foi definido pelo autorrelato do doente ou por um AUDIT positivo. Resultados: Durante 2019, 122 doentes foram submetidos a TH e 99 responderam ao questionário (junho de 2021). A idade média (SD) foi de 57 (10) anos, 70 doentes (70,7%) eram do sexo masculino e 49 (49,5%) foram submetidos a TH relacionado com DHA. Com uma mediana (IQR) de follow-up de 24 (20­26) meses após o TH-índex, 22 (22,2%) doentes admitiram algum consumo de álcool: 14 beberam mensalmente ou menos e oito beberam 2­4 vezes/mês. Nos dias em que bebiam, 18 consumiam normalmente 1­2 bebidas e os restantes não mais do que 3­4 bebidas. Um doente reportou o consumo de ≥6 bebidas em uma ocasião. Todos os doentes transplantados com consumo alcoólico pós-TH foram considerados de baixo risco (pontuação >8) de acordo com o AUDIT (mediana [IQR] de 1 [1­2]). Nenhum doente reportou problemas relacionados com o álcool, tanto autoinfligido como a terceiros. Os indivíduos transplantados com consumo alcoólico eram mais jovens (53 vs. 59 anos, p = 0,020), o motivo de TH era mais frequentemente não relacionado com DHA (72,7 vs. 44,2%, p = 0,018) e apresentavam mais tabagismo ativo (31,8 vs. 10,4%, p = 0,037) quando comparado com os abstinentes. Conclusão: Na nossa coorte, cerca de um quarto dos doentes transplantados hepáticos consumiram álcool no período pós-transplante precoce, todos com um padrão de baixo risco, de acordo com o AUDIT.

The ELPAT living organ donor Psychosocial Assessment Tool (EPAT): from 'what' to 'how' of psychosocial screening - a pilot study.

Thorough psychosocial screening of donor candidates is required in order to minimize potential negative consequences and to strive for optimal safety within living donation programmes. We aimed to develop an evidence-based tool to standardize the psychosocial screening process. Key concepts of psychosocial screening were used to structure our tool: motivation and decision-making, personal resources, psychopathology, social resources, ethical and legal factors and information and risk processing. We (i) discussed how each item per concept could be measured, (ii) reviewed and rated available validated tools, (iii) where necessary developed new items, (iv) assessed content validity and (v) pilot-tested the new items. The resulting ELPAT living organ donor Psychosocial Assessment Tool (EPAT) consists of a selection of validated questionnaires (28 items in total), a semi-structured interview (43 questions) and a Red Flag Checklist. We outline optimal procedures and conditions for implementing this tool. The EPAT and user manual are available from the authors. Use of this tool will standardize the psychosocial screening procedure ensuring that no psychosocial issues are overlooked and ensure that comparable selection criteria are used and facilitate generation of comparable psychosocial data on living donor candidates.

Candidates for liver transplantation with alcoholic liver disease: Psychosocial aspects.

In Europe, 30% to 50% of liver transplantations are currently due to alcoholic liver disease (ALD). In the United States, this percentage is 17.2%. Post-transplant survival and other predictors of clinical course do not differ significantly from those in other types of transplanted patients, as long as there is no relapse of drinking. However, 20%-25% of these patients lapse or relapse to heavy drinking post-operatively, which has been associated with an increased risk of liver damage and mortality. It is therefore crucial to design specific selection and follow-up strategies aimed at this particular type of patient. Several good and poor prognosis factors that could help to predict a relapse have been suggested, among them the duration of abstinence, social support, a family history of alcoholism, abuse diagnosis versus alcohol dependence, non-acceptance of diagnosis related to alcohol use, presence of severe mental illness, non-adherence in a broad sense, number of years of alcoholism, and daily quantity of alcohol consumption. In this article, we discuss these and other, more controversial factors in selecting ALD patients for liver transplantation. Abstinence should be the main goal after transplantation in an ALD patient. In this article, we review the several definitions of post-transplant relapse, its monitoring and the psychopharmacological and psychotherapeutic treatment.

Psychosocial predictors of adherence after liver transplant in a single transplant center in Portugal.

CONTEXT: Nonadherence has important implications for morbidity and mortality, reduced quality of life, and increased medical costs after transplant. OBJECTIVE; To investigate which psychiatric and psychosocial factors determine adherence after liver transplant. DESIGN: A group of 150 consecutive transplant candidates attending the outpatient clinics of the transplant unit of Hospital de Curry Cabral were studied between January 1,2006, and December 1, 2007. Among these, 84 received a transplant and of those 84, 11 recipients died, 3 received another transplant, and 8 refused to finish the study (62 patients remained). MEASURES: Before transplant, prospective recipients were assessed via the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, the NEO Five-Factor Inventory, and the revised Illness Perception Questionnaire. Both before and after transplant, patients were assessed with the Multidimensional Adherence Questionnaire. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Adherence to medication improved significantly from before to after transplant. This kind of adherence after transplant was associated with adherence to medication before transplant and high scores on the personal control dimension of the Illness Perception Questionnaire before transplant. Therefore it might be useful to focus on patients with poor adherence to medication and low scores on the personal control dimension of the Illness Perception Questionnaire before transplant in order to design interventions for them.

[Personality and transplantation]. / Personalidade e transplante.

The association between personality and medical health has been subject of several studies. The most accepted theoretical models of personality, in this context, are of two kinds: Three factor model (neuroticism, extraversion epsicoticism) and five factor model (neuroticism, extraversion, consciousness, agreeableness, and openess to experience). There are three ways which can explain the interaction between personality and medical illness: Hyperactivity induced by personality, personality and illness independent predisposition, non-healthy behaviours induced by personality. There are several ways of assessing personality in medical illness: taxonomic vs dimensional approaches; Auto vs hetero evaluation; Specific vs non-specific methods. We analyse the arguments against and favourable to any of these approaches. Some of the most used instruments to assess personality in medical context are the NEOPI versions (original NEO-PI, NEO-PI-R, NEO-FFI-60). NEO-PI-R and NEO-FFI-60 are validated to the Portuguese population. According to the few published studies assessing personality in transplanted patients we concluded that neuroticism was associated to a poor quality of life (physical, mental, social) in post-transplantation period; extraversion to a better quality of life (physical, mental, social); type D personality to a worse quality of life and a increased mortality and rejection after transplantation. We also concluded that personality disorders were not associated to an increase of alcohol consumption in alcohol liver disease transplanted patients.

[Quality of life and transplantation]. / Qualidade de vida e transplante.

With the recent development of surgical techniques and other treatments of transplanted patients the increase in survival is not anymore the unique objective of the intervention. Nowadays, increase in quality of life is a very important aim. The instruments that assess quality of life can be multi/unidimensional, specific/nonspecific. One of the most important instruments to evaluate quality of life in all kinds of patients is the MOS-SF36, validated to Portuguese population. According to most published studies, there is an improvement in quality of life dimensions after transplantation. In some prospective studies it is shown that quality of life after transplantation is determined by some pre-transplantation factors such as medical factors (severity of illness) and psychiatric factors (personality, depression, coping strategies).

Quality of life following liver transplantation: a comparative study between Familial Amyloid Neuropathy and liver disease patients.

BACKGROUND: It has been demonstrated in many studies that quality of life can be improved after liver transplantation in patients with liver disease. Nevertheless, quality of life improvement in specific groups of transplanted patients such as those with Familial Amyloid Polyneuropathy has not yet been explored. The present study aimed to compare the change in quality of life following liver transplantation between patients with Familial Amyloid Polyneuropathy (FAP) and patients with liver disease. RESULTS: Patient's mental quality of life showed an improvement in all liver disease patients, and a worsening in FAP patients, resulting in a significant difference between the two groups. Regarding physical quality of life, although a similar improvement was seen in both groups, FAP patients had significantly less improvement than the sub-group of decompensated liver disease (Child-Pugh B and C). CONCLUSION: It is concluded that liver transplantation has a less beneficial impact in FAP patient's physical quality of life, probably because they are not so much disabled by their disease at the moment of liver transplantation. The lesser improvement in mental quality of life of FAP patients may be due to their particular psychological profile and greater expectations towards transplantation.

Psychiatric differences between liver transplant candidates with familial amyloid polyneuropathy and those with alcoholic liver disease.

BACKGROUND: Psychiatric diagnoses are very common in liver transplant candidates, and such diagnoses are predictive of a poor clinical evolution and quality of life after transplantation. Also, nonadherence before the transplant is predictive of nonadherence after the transplant. METHODS: We studied the psychiatric and psychosocial profiles of 85 liver transplant candidates, comprising consecutive patients attending outpatient clinics of a liver transplantation unit at a public hospital. Interviews and questionnaires were used to measure personality traits, symptoms of anxiety and depression, social support, and adherence. These patients were broken into 3 groups: patients with familial amyloid polyneuropathy (n = 20), patients with alcoholic liver disease (n = 33), and patients with other liver diseases (n = 32). RESULTS: About 58% of patients had a current psychiatric diagnosis (24.8%, major depressive disorder, 22.3% generalized anxiety disorder, 8.3% adaptive disorder, 2.3% abuse of or dependence on substances other than alcohol). Current psychiatric diagnosis did not differ between patients with familial amyloid polyneuropathy and patients with alcoholic liver disease. Patients with alcoholic liver disease showed lower scores for 2 protective personality traits, social support and adherence to medication, than other patients. Patients with familial amyloid polyneuropathy showed higher scores for those traits. CONCLUSIONS: All patients waiting for a liver transplant should undergo psychiatric and psychological assessment. Some psychological characteristics such as personality traits and social support differ between clinical groups, so it may be useful to design different approaches for each group. Patients with alcoholic liver disease may require a special approach to improve adherence to medication.

[Coping in transplantated patients]. / Coping nos doentes transplantados.

The theoretical model of coping mechanisms (CM), is based on a discussion between it's main determinant factors: individual and situational (related to the 2 approaches of coping: dispositional and constitutional). Actually the most used classification of CM is based on the division of CM in two main dimensions: coping focused on emotions and coping focused on problem resolution. It is essential that classification methods of CM have in consideration the coexistence of stable dispositional elements with a situational variability. Some instruments to evaluate CM are introduced, based on different theories. Coping can influence health threw different mechanisms (neuroendocrine system, health threatening behaviours and adherence) and is included in two of the more important theoretical models applied to health (Moos & Schafer's and Leventhal's). Based on a systematic literature review we concluded that the most prevalent CM in pre transplantation period are acceptance, active coping, seeking support, and the less used are self-blame and avoidance. In post transplantation period the more prevalent CM continue to be active coping and seeking support associated to confrontation, selfconfidence, religion and coping focused in the problem. Evasive, emotive and fatalistic CM are associated to less control sensed by patients. Confrontation is associated to a better quality of life and avoidance to a reduction of quality of life and higher depression levels and denial to non-adherence increase. Control sensed by patients, CM related to the expression of emotions and denial change threw clinical evolution of transplanted patients.

[Validation of multidimensional adherence questionnaire for liver transplantated patients (MAQ)]. / Validação do questionário multidimensional da adesão no doente com transplante hepático.

Nonadherence is considered as determinant for the increase of morbility and mortality, reduction of quality of life, increase of medical costs and excess health services utilization in transplanted patients, and it can be direct cause of 21% of the fails of transplants and 26% of the mortality after transplantation. It was demonstrated that patient description obtained by means of an interview with a good questionnaire is the best way to access to adherence. In transplanted patients, non adherence with a more extended sense, is much more prevalent than adherence related only with medication intake, and therefore the instrument that should be used to measure adherence in this population should be a questionnaire that accesses adherence in a more extended sense. There wasn't found in literature any instrument to evaluate multidimensional adherence in liver transplanted patients. Based on an extended review of literature and with supervision of hepatologists the authors elaborated a questionnaire that mentions 3 adherence dimensions: presence in medical appointments and exams, medication intake and alcohol ingestion, with three questions to each dimension. This questionnaire has passed threw several steps to be validated: cognitive debriefing, liability tests, concept validity, construct validity, and criterium validity.

[Adherence in transplantated patients]. / Adesão nos doentes transplantados.

There is a lot evidence about the importance adherence in the transplantated patients. Many theoretical models that can me used to predict adherence, the more important are: the communication model of compliance (Ley), the health belief model (Rosenstock, Becker), and the autoregulation model (Leventhal). The authors explore these models and sugest the one wich is more useful in transplantated patients. It is not possible to classify adherence in a monodimensional way, therefore it is useful to consider several catacteristics like timing (early, late, continuous), frequency (occasional, intermittent, persistant, complete), origin (accidental, invulnerable, decisive) and diagnostic certaincy (definite, probable, possible, unlikely). There are many ways to mesure adherence. These can be classified in direct methods (assays of drug concentrations, use of markers incorporated into pills, direct observation of pill taking) and indirect methods (patient self-reports, compliance ratings by doctors). The authors describe the various methods and suggest the ones that best suite transplantated patients. The non-adherence in transplantated patients is very common, it's medium prevalence is 25,28%, and can be influenced by many factors: demographic (age, civil state, sex, race, social/economic status), psychiatric and psychologic (depression, personality disorders, mental retardation, alcoholism, health/disease beliefs, locus control), and others (medication costs, pervious transplant).