Resumption of valued activities in the first year post liver transplant

ABSTRACT Current practice in education of transplant recipients includes general guidelines about return to involvement in life activities emphasizing medical precautions during wound healing and avoidance of activities that present risk of infection or rejection. This approach assumes patients gradually resume pre-transplant involvement in life activities: an assumption that has not been tested. Using the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure, this cross-sectional descriptive pilot study (n = 20) explored differences in the performance of activities of daily living, instrumental activities of daily living, leisure, and productivity at three time periods within the first year. Results showed basic daily tasks are stable by the third month but some instrumental tasks declined by the end of the first year post transplant. Results indicated that there were significant differences in the Short Form-36 mental component score of the group performing "worse than expected" suggesting that preparation of recipients is needed to enable them to set realistic expectations. Results indicate the need for a longitudinal study of the resumption patterns of life activities for realistic expectations of recovery and guidelines for the treatment team.