Our objectives were to assess the characteristics of donors for living- donor liver transplantation (LDLT) and to examine the impact of donation on LDLT donor quality of life (OOL) regarding physical and psychological distress. Methods. Data were collected from a mailed survey or an interview using a cross-sectional prospective study design. We used the abbreviated version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life ( WHOQOL-BREF), Physical Symptom Disturbance Scale, and Psychological Distress Scale. LDLT donors were recruited from a teaching hospital located in a metropolitan area of northern Taiwan. Results. The 35 LDLT donors have a mean age 34.0 +/- 8.6 years and were recruited at a median of 25.9 months after donation (range, 0.6-92 months). The average scores in the four domains of the WHOQOL-BREF scale ranged from 13.5 to 14.9. LDLT Donors reported higher QOL scores in social and environment domains but lower scores in physical and psychological domains than healthy adults . Numbers of physical symptoms experienced by each donor ranged from one( n = 4) to 27 (n = 2). Feeling throbbing, itching or numbness around the wound was the most common physical symptom disturbance reported by donors (n = 26, 74%). Approximately 40% of the donors reported having one to three metrics of psychological distresses. "Easily feel distress and angry " was the most common psychological distress reported by 57% ( n = 20) of donors. Conclusions. This study indicated that liver donation had a mild negative impact on donors physical and psychological facets of QOL. These results may assist professionals to provide appropriate clinical management
