Health-related quality of life in patients with different stages of liver disease induced by hepatitis C.
OBJECTIVE
Patients with hepatitis C have been shown to have impaired health-related quality of life (HRQoL). The aim of this study was to determine HRQoL in patients in different stages of hepatitis C virus (HCV) and to compare HRQoL in HCV cirrhosis with non-HCV-induced cirrhosis.


METHODS
Out of 489 consecutive patients who fulfilled the inclusion criteria, 472 (96%) agreed to participate in the study: 158 patients with mild/moderate fibrosis with chronic hepatitis C (CHC group), 76 patients with HCV compensated cirrhosis (CC), 53 patients with HCV decompensated (DC) cirrhosis, 52 non-cirrhotic patients with sustained viral response (SVR), and a control group consisting of 32 patients with non-HCV CC and 101 with non-HCV DC who completed the Short Form-36 (SF-36) and EQ-5D questionnaire.


RESULTS
The CHC group had significantly lower SF-36 scores than healthy controls, with the exception of scores for the dimensions physical function and bodily pain. HCV patients with DC had lower scores in all SF-36 dimensions in comparison with those of the CHC group, as well as in physical and mental component summaries (p<0.001). In comparison with the CHC group, the HCV CC group had lower scores on the SF-36 general health dimension (p<0.05) and lower SF-36 physical component summary (PCS) scores (p<0.05). No major differences were seen in patients with HCV- and non-HCV-induced cirrhosis.


CONCLUSIONS
Impairment in HRQoL in patients with HCV was associated with the severity of liver disease, patients with decompensated cirrhosis exhibiting the highest impairment in HRQoL. The etiology of liver disease does not seem to be important in determining HRQoL in cirrhosis.
Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden. einar.bjornsson@medic.gu.se
Einar
E
Björnsson
Hans
H
Verbaan
Antti
A
Oksanen
Aril
A
Frydén
Jonas
J
Johansson
Sarah
S
Friberg
Olav
O
Dalgård
Evangelos
E
Kalaitzakis
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001706:Biopsy; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000523:psychology* / Q000821:virology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013548:Sweden