Psychiatric Disorder and Quality of Life in Patients Awaiting Lung Transplantation

Study objective: To examine the relationship between psychiatric comorbidity and quality of life in patients awaiting lung transplantation. Setting: Duke University Medical Center/Lung Transplantation Program. Participants: One hundred patients with end-stage pulmonary disease listed for lung transplantation. Measurements and results: Twenty-five percent (n = 25) of the sample met diagnostic criteria for at least one current mood or anxiety disorder. Controlling for age, gender, ethnicity, percentage of predicted FEV, and lung disease diagnosis, patients with a current psychiatric diagnosis reported poorer general quality of life (p < 0.0001), poorer disease-specific quality of life (p < 0.0001), greater shortness of breath (p = 0.01), more symptoms of psychological distress (p < 0.0001), lower levels of social support (p < 0.0001), and fewer positive health habits (p < 0.04) than their counterparts without a psychiatric diagnosis. Conclusions: Psychiatric comorbidity affects a significant portion of patients awaiting lung transplantation and is associated with decreased health-related quality of life.