Employment in Patients After Liver Transplantation

Abstract

Aim: To determine the prevalence of employment of patients after liver transplantation (TX) and the history of employment, to compare employment with patients’ opinions about their ability to work and to establish possible reasons for frequent unemployment.

Methods: Ninety-eight respondents participated in the study. They were the first 98 liver transplant patients who came for a check-up at Merkur University Hospital by the time of the research and agreed to participate in the study. We created and used a questionnaire about the level of education and employment prior to and after the liver TX.

Results: Before the diagnosis of liver disease, 59.18 % of the patients were employed, while after liver TX, at the time of the research, the employment rate decreased to 8.2 %. During the same time span, the number of retired patients increased from 3.1 % before the diagnosis to 63.3 % after liver TX at the time of the research. The main reasons for unemployment were poor health due to liver disease and employers’ unwillingness to hire these patients because of a potential risk of adjustment of working hours. Median follow-up time after liver TX was 3 years (interquartile range 2 – 6).

Conclusion: Many patients with severe liver disease are unemployed. Liver TX did not increase the rate of employment of Croatian patients. Patients should be supported by society in finding appropriate employment.