Effects of gender and type of transplantation on daily affect after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

Abstract

Background. To explore the effects of gender differences and type of transplantation in daily emotional state dynamic following hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Method. Positive and negative emotions were reported by 89 patients (45 women and 44 men) who underwent either autologous (75%) or allogeneic (25%) HSCT for 28 consecutive days after hospital discharge. Results: The linear growth models for NA (negative) and PA (positive) were assessed separately, with both gender and type of HSCT as predictors and time as covariate. Fixed effects for positive emotions (PA) showed gender differences in both within- and between-person levels. PA increased in the both groups over 28 days, but this change was sixfold in among men when compared to women. The initial PA was on the same level in both groups. For NA only between-subjects and within-subjects random effects were significant. Patients after autologous HSCT reported increase in PA and decrease in NA, whereas participants who went through allogenic HSCT showed opposite changes in emotional state – decrease in PA and increase in NA. Discussion: The findings suggests heterogeneous but overall positive response to bone marrow transplantation. The type of transplantation turns out to be a significant predictor of direction of change in emotional adjustment after HSCT.