La rivista americana “Liver Transplantation” ha pubblicato in questi giorni un interessante studio fatto da ricercatori del Consiglio nazionale delle ricerche (Cnr) di Pisa e del centro trapianti di fegato dell’università di Pisa, diretti dallo psicologo Franco Bonaguidi, sul rapporto tra la religiosità del paziente e la sua eventuale guarigione dopo un trapianto di fegato. Indagando con un apposito questionario su 179 pazienti, lo studio mostra che il livello di sopravvivenza è maggiore in quelli in cui il fenomeno “religiosità” è presente in maniera attiva, cioè non come puro fatalismo o passiva attesa, ma come chiara domanda di guarigione.
Non è il primo studio che si interroga su questo rapporto. Per esempio sulla rivista “Psychology and Health” di febbraio 2010 veniva mostrato come la religiosità provochi una significativa riduzione della mortalità generale; e sulla rivista “Biology of Blood and Marrow Transpla
Carlo Bellieni
We tested the hypothesis that religiosity -- seeking God's help, having faith in God, trusting in God, and trying to perceive God's will in the disease -- is associated with improved survival in patients with end-stage liver disease who have undergone orthotopic liver transplantation. We studied a group of 179 candidates for liver transplantation who responded to a questionnaire on religiosity during pre-transplant psychological evaluation and underwent transplantation between 2004 and 2007. Demographic data, educational level, employment, clinical data and results of the questionnaire were compared with the survival of patients during follow-up, regardless of cause of death. Factorial analysis of responses to the questionnaires revealed three main factors, which we called Search for God (active), Waiting for God (passive), and Fatalism. The consistency of the matrix was very high (consistency index = 0.92). Eighteen patients died during follow-up (median, 21 months). Using multivariate analysis, only the Search for God factor (Hazard Ratio [HR] 2.95; 95% Confidence interval [CI] 1.05–8.32; χ2=4.205, p=0.040) and the post-transplant length of stay in the intensive care unit (HR 1.05; 95% CI 1.01 – 1.08; - χ2=8.506, p=0.035) were independently associated with survival, even after adjusting for age, sex, marital status, employment, educational level, viral etiology, Child-Pugh score, serum creatinine, time from questionnaire to transplant, donor age, intraoperative bleeding, Waiting for God factor and Fatalism. Patients who did not present the Search for God factor were younger than those who did, but had shorter survival (p=0.03) and a threefold increased relative risk of dying (HR=3.01, 95% CI 1.07-8.45). In conclusion, religiosity is associated with prolonged survival in patients undergoing liver transplantation.
