A systematic review including 218 studies with a total of 14 750 subjects was abstracted in DARE. Of the studies, 30.3% were of kidney, 22.5% were of heart, 18.3% were of liver, 15.6% were of bone marrow, 8.7% were of pancreas/kidney, and 4.6% were of lung-heart transplantations. The majority of 76 prospective studies reported significant pre- to post-transplant improvements in physical functional quality of life, mental health/cognitive status, social functioning, and overall quality of life perceptions. The majority of 84 studies reported physical functional and global quality of life advantages for transplant recipients relative to similarly ill comparison groups.
Comment: The quality of evidence is downgraded by inconsistency (variability in results across studies).