Quality of life and care burden in primary caregivers of liver transplantation recipients in China

So far, liver transplantation (LT) has become the most effective way to treat end-stage liver-related diseases. As we all know, a stable caregiver is crucial to LT recovery. However, compared with LT patients, few studies were focused on LT caregivers. This study aimed to describe the quality of life (QoL), care burden, and their related factors in caregivers of LT patients in Shanghai, China. We collected 225 liver transplanted patients and their corresponding caregivers’ social demographic and medical information; meanwhile, we assessed 225 LT recipients’ caregivers’ life quality; by using Caregiver Quality of Life Index-Liver Transplantation in Chinese version (CQOLC-LT), Zarit caregiver burden inventory in Chinese version (ZBI) was used to access the care burden. Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) and Center for Epidemiological Survey-Depression Scale (CES-D) were used to assess caregivers’ anxiety and depression status. For physical assessment, we used Fatigue Scale-14 (FS-14). Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify clinical factors influencing QOL of LT primary caregivers. The QoL of LT caregiver was not optimistic; the care burden on caregiver was still heavy. In particular, most caregivers experienced mild to moderate mental health disorders. In general, our findings emphasized the importance of assessment of physical and mental health in primary caregivers during overall process.