Employment After Liver Transplantation: A Review

• Orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) is a major treatment for patients with end-stage liver disease. The number of OLT performed has increased past decades, and the survival rate of graft has improved. Employment after OLT continues to be an area of interest in transplant community.
• Younger age, higher education, male gender, pretransplant employment are common predictors associated with better rates of employment after OLT.
• Discussion regarding return to work early in the transplantation assessment process and actively assisting patients to seek employment after transplantation may improve employment rates.

BackgroundReturn to productive employment is often an important milestone in the recovery and rehabilitation process after liver transplantation (OLT). This literature review identifies factors associated with employment in patients who underwent OLT.MethodsWe searched PubMed for articles that addressed the various factors affecting employment after OLT.ResultsThe studies demonstrated improvement in the quality of life and examined factors that predicted whether patients would return to work after OLT. Demographic variable associated with posttransplant employment included young age, male sex, college degree, Caucasian race, and pretransplant employment. Patients with alcohol-related liver disease had a significantly lower rate of employment than did those with other etiologies of liver disease. Recipients who were employed after transplantation had a significantly better posttransplant functional status than did those who were not employed.ConclusionEconomic pressures are increasing the expectation that patients who undergo successful OLT will return to work. Thus, transplant teams need to have a better understanding of posttransplant work outcomes for this vulnerable population, and greater attention must be paid to the full social rehabilitation of transplant recipients. Specific interventions for OLT recipients should be designed to evaluate and change their health perceptions and encourage their return to work.