Assessment of health-related quality of life in Chinese patients with minimal hepatic encephalopathy.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) based on the Chinese version of SF-36 and Chronic Liver Disease Questionnaire (CLDQ) in subjects with chronic hepatitis B, liver cirrhosis, including patients with minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE).


METHODS
The SF-36 and CLDQ were administered to 160 healthy volunteers, 20 subjects with chronic hepatitis B and 106 patients with cirrhosis (33 cases exhibited MHE). HRQOL scores were compared among the different study groups. The SF-36 includes eight health concepts: physical functioning, role-physical, body pain, general health, vitality, social functioning, role-emotion, and mental health. Six domains of CLDQ were assessed: abdominal symptoms, fatigue, systemic symptoms, activity, emotional function and worry.


RESULTS
Compared with healthy controls (96.9 +/- 4.5, 86.6 +/- 18.4, 90.1 +/- 12.5, 89.0 +/- 5.7, 87.5 +/- 4.3, 95.8 +/- 7.1, 88.5 +/- 15.9, 88.7 +/- 5.2 in SF-36 and 6.7 +/- 0.5, 6.1 +/- 0.6, 6.3 +/- 0.6, 6.5 +/- 0.5, 6.3 +/- 0.5, 6.8 +/- 0.4 in CLDQ), patients with chronic hepatitis B (86.3 +/- 11.0, 68.8 +/- 21.3, 78.9 +/- 14.4, 60.8 +/- 10.5, 70.8 +/- 8.6, 76.1 +/- 12.6, 50.0 +/- 22.9, 72.2 +/- 10.6 and 5.5 +/- 1.0, 4.5 +/- 1.0, 5.2 +/- 1.1, 5.3 +/- 0.9, 4.8 +/- 0.9, 4.9 +/- 1.0) and cirrhosis (52.8 +/- 17.4, 32.8 +/- 27.9, 61.6 +/- 18.9, 30.2 +/- 18.3, 47.9 +/- 20.1, 54.0 +/- 19.2, 28.9 +/- 26.1, 51.1 +/- 17.8 and 4.7 +/- 1.2, 3.9 +/- 1.2, 4.7 +/- 1.2, 4.7 +/- 1.3, 4.7 +/- 1.0, 4.4 +/- 1.1) had lower HRQOL on all scales of the SF-36 and CLDQ (P < 0.01 for all). Increasing severity of liver cirrhosis (based on the Child-Pugh score/presence or absence of MHE) was associated with a decrease in most components of SF-36 and CLDQ, especially SF-36.


CONCLUSIONS
The Chinese version of SF-36 along with CLDQ is a valid and reliable method for testing MHE in patients with liver cirrhosis. Cirrhosis and MHE are associated with decreased HRQOL.
Bao
Zhi-Jun
ZJ
Department of Gastroenterology, Renji Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai Institute of Digestive Disease, Shanghai 200001, China.
Qiu
De-Kai
DK
Ma
Xiong
X
Fan
Zhu-Ping
ZP
Zhang
Gan-Sheng
GS
Huang
Yi-Qin
YQ
Yu
Xiao-Feng
XF
Zeng
Min-De
MD
D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002681:China; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006306:Health Surveys; D006501:Hepatic Encephalopathy / Q000150:complications* / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D019694:Hepatitis B, Chronic / Q000150:complications / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000150:complications / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D008875:Middle Aged; D010146:Pain / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012720:Severity of Illness Index