Physical and psychosocial status of adults one-year after bone marrow transplantation: a prospective study

Assessment of the impact of bone marrow transplantation (BMT) on long-term physical and psychosocial functioning has been hampered by a paucity of prospective research. While evidence suggests that many adult BMT recipients experience deficits in physical and psychosocial functioning > or = 1 year following BMT, whether these deficits existed prior to BMT is not known. Observed post-BMT deficits could be attributable to conventional treatments received prior to BMT and thus could have antedated BMT. The physical and psychosocial status of 28 adult BMT recipients was assessed prior to BMT and 12-16 months after BMT. Analysis of group means indicated few significant differences between pre- and post-BMT assessments. However, inspection of residual change scores suggested that physical and psychosocial status improved following BMT for some individuals, while that of others declined. Analysis of residual change scores indicated that males and older patients at time of BMT reported the largest declines in physical and psychosocial status. Longer follow-up is necessary to determine whether decrements observed 12-16 months after BMT reflect a slower process of post-BMT recovery or whether they constitute fairly permanent deficits.