Quality of life in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia after unrelated donor bone marrow transplantation.

A descriptive study was designed to assess the quality of life and quantify potential long-term physical and psychosocial problems resulting from unrelated donor bone marrow transplantation. A sample of 28 survivors of an average 41.2 months post-bone marrow transplantation showed that quality of life was good to excellent in most subjects, with a small fraction having impaired physical or psychosocial functioning. Psychosocial adjustment was most impaired in domains of life related to sexual relationships, vocational adjustment, social adjustment, and psychological distress. Females and older adults reported significantly higher dysfunction compared with males and younger subjects. Passage of time since bone marrow transplantation was unrelated to psychosocial improvement. Fatigue was the main symptom interfering with daily life in most (78.6%). Regression analysis showed that development of fatigue in our sample was mainly the result of the combined effects of anxiety, presence of pain, and infections (R2 = 0.75, p < .001), with weight loss showing a trend in relation to fatigue. Results indicate that unrelated donor bone marrow transplantation long-term survivors have an acceptable degree of quality of life, but rehabilitative services still need to be used for those who exhibit difficulties with their daily life.