Project Details
Projekt
Development of a screening instrument assessing psychosocial eligibility of living liver donors and a questionaire of donors' specific health-related quality of life
Applicant
Professor Dr. Karl-Heinz Schulz
Subject Area
General and Visceral Surgery
Term
from 2007 to 2012
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 5397027
An important purpose of the psychosocial evaluation of candidates for living liver donation is to limit psychiatric risks after donation. In the forthcoming interval, aims of the proposed study will be the development of psychometrical diagnostic assessment instruments for the psychosocial selection of living liver donors and the documentation of their specific healthrelated quality of life. Based on our previous research, discriminating variables are selected that will be tested maintaining and expanding our current design, including further time points and variables. Sense of coherence and social support in our studies have proved to be significant predictors of psychosocial stress in living donors. These and further variables (e.g., previous psychiatric symptoms, self-esteem) will be integrated in a new diagnostic screening instrument for the selection of eligible donor candidates. Since generic instruments have a limited sensitivity in measuring health-related quality of life of living donors, specific instruments for this population are needed. Variables that we found to be relevant in our previous research (e.g., worries, activity, physical symptoms) will be combined with expert know-how to develop a novel specific and sensitive tool for living donors. In this way, an economic, evidence-based evaluation and monitoring of living donors will be assured, and the procedure of living liver donation will be optimized. To date, comparable validated psychometric instruments are not available.
DFG Programme
Clinical Research Units
