Daily lives of pre-adolescents/adolescents and their parents after liver transplant

Aim: This mixed methods study describes the post-transplantation daily life of pre-adolescents and adolescents who had undergone living donor liver transplantation and their parents. Methods: Nine parent-child dyads were enrolled and all children were living donor liver transplant recipients. Three participants were pre-adolescents and the six were adolescents. Five of the parents surveyed in this study had been the donors. Members of the parent-child dyads completed the questionnaires and participated in semistructured interviews. An inductive qualitative analysis of the interview data was conducted. Results: The post-transplantation daily life of the parent-child dyads had four distinct patterns: (i) pre-adolescents who had undergone transplantation during infancy, who had no understanding of the transplant procedure, and whose care was managed by their parent(s) without any problems; (ii) adolescents who were aware that their physical condition had improved after the transplant and who managed and dealt with the situation on their own; (iii) adolescents who were dissatisfied with the transplantation and associated immunosuppression because transplant procedures were perceived as negative or because they could not remember the transplant procedure; and (iv) one participant could not be categorized because their liver function deteriorated post-transplantation and they were registered for re-transplantation. Patterns were identified that characterized the post-transplantation daily life of pre-adolescents/adolescents who underwent liver transplantation, and that of their parents. Further research for post-transplantation parent-child dyads is warranted.