Background: We evaluated depression and social isolation assessed at time of waitlisting as predictors of survival in heart transplant (HTx) recipients.

Methods and Results: Between 2005 and 2006, 318 adult HTx candidates were enrolled in the Waiting for a New Heart Study, and 164 received transplantation. Patients were followed until February 2013. Psychosocial characteristics were assessed by questionnaires. Eurotransplant provided medical data at waitlisting, transplantation dates, and donor characteristics; hospitals reported medical data at HTx and date of death after HTx. During a median follow-up of 70 months (<1-93 months post-HTx), 56 (38%) of 148 transplanted patients with complete data died. Depression scores were unrelated to social isolation, and neither correlated with disease severity. Higher depression scores increased the risk of dying (hazard ratio=1.07, 95% confidence interval, 1.01, 1.15, P=0.032), which was moderated by social isolation scores (significant interaction term; hazard ratio = 0.985, 95% confidence interval, 0.973, 0.998; P=0.022). These findings were maintained in multivariate models controlling for covariates (P values 0.020-0.039). Actuarial 1-year/5-year survival was best for patients with low depression who were not socially isolated at waitlisting (86% after 1 year, 79% after 5 years). Survival of those who were either depressed, or socially isolated or both, was lower, especially 5 years posttransplant (56%, 60%, and 62%, respectively).

Conclusions: Low depression in conjunction with social integration at time of waitlisting is related to enhanced chances for survival after HTx. Both factors should be considered for inclusion in standardized assessments and interventions for HTx candidates.

On PubMed: J Am Heart Assoc 2017; 6(12):e007016

Background: The majority of liver transplant recipients survive long term after the procedure.

Aim: To assess if this positive outcome is associated with improved employment post-transplant.

Methods: A systematic review of publications between 2001 and 2016 was performed. A standard procedure was used to search for suitable publications from two databases (PubMed and EMBASE). Duplicates were removed and abstracts screened by both authors for possible inclusion. Possible suitable publications were obtained and examined for the presence of pre- and post-employment information. Full articles that had this information were reviewed by standard methodology for assessment of bias.

Results:  total of 162 individual abstracts were screened. Thirty-five full papers were reviewed and 13 papers included in the detailed review. Risk of bias was considered high due to low response rates, poor assessment of prognostic and confounding factors and varying definitions of employment. Heterogeneous data precluded meta-analysis. Eight studies focused on return to work as a primary outcome and five on quality of life with employment as a secondary outcome. Follow-up varied between 2 and 13 years. Rates of employment fell in all studies assessed. Employment rates ranged from 26 to 80% pre-transplant and 18 to 44% post-transplant. The proportion of those categorized as ill-health retired was 24% greater after orthotopic liver transplantation.

Conclusions: Improved survival after liver transplantation was not reflected in a return to employment and retirement was common. Areas for further study include interventions to minimize physical deconditioning, depression associated with lower employment rates and type of work available after transplant.

On PubMed: Occup Med (Lond) 2018; 68(2):88-95