Psychometric assessment of cardiac transplantation candidates.

Psychometric assessment protocols were used to chart the course of 287 end-stage cardiac patients' psychological adjustment at pretransplantation and, again, in 34 who were subsequently transplanted. The regression and repeated-measures analyses suggested that psychological distress is typical of the adult transplantation candidate, although impaired cognitive functioning is more typical of the acute postoperative stage. Negative affect, cognitive, personality, and coping measures are interrelated at pretransplantation; depression and mental control show significant decreases at 2 weeks posttransplantation. Whereas the transplantation process is inherently distressing, psychological testing may identify cognitive and personality features that require more specific clinical attention.