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Quality of life after bone‐marrow transplantation
Author(s) -
CLAISSE J. P.,
HIRSCH I.,
GLUCKMAN E.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
european journal of cancer care
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.849
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1365-2354
pISSN - 0961-5423
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2354.1992.tb00139.x
Subject(s) - medicine , bone marrow transplantation , quality of life (healthcare) , feeling , regimen , marital status , transplantation , pediatrics , surgery , nursing , psychology , social psychology , population , environmental health
Bone‐marrow transplantation (BMT) has dramatically changed the prognosis of fatal haematological diseases. These results allow more and more patients to resume a normal life after a BMT, but for some of them the quality of life is different from what it was before the BMT. A study was conducted to evaluate the changes that the patients have experienced in their lives. A questionnaire was sent to 90 adult patients who underwent BMT between January 1984 and December 1989. We received 49 answers, 26 from male patients and 23 from female patients. The marital status of the patients did not change significantly: only three patients became divorced and three got married. For 43% of the patients the most difficult period of their hospitalization in the laminar air‐flow room was the conditioning regimen (chemotherapy and irradiation). After the BMT 65% felt that they had resumed a normal life but 35% did not share this feeling. The most often mentioned handicap was the lack of physical strength. After the BMT 55% of the patients worked again after a mean time of 16 months. Among the working patients 60% obtained satisfaction from their work. To the last question ‘Would you now accept to undergo a BMT?’, only one patient answered ‘no’. In conclusion, although a BMT is a long and difficult procedure, this survey shows that, among the patients who answered the questionnaire, the majority felt positive about the outcome of their BMT.