Health-related quality of life among chronic HCV patients: Measuring disease and treatment response impacts

Ekram W Abd El-Wahab

Annals of Tropical Medicine and Public Health 2016 9(3):152-158

Background and Objectives: Quality of life may be reduced in patients with chronic liver diseases. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of chronic viral liver diseases on health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among Egyptian patients compared to an interventional group of patients undergoing interferon (IFN) therapy and a control group of noninfected individuals via HRQOL specific assessment instruments focusing on liver disease. Subject and Methods: Quality of life was investigated in 150 patients with chronic viral liver disease, 150 patients undergoing IFN based therapy, and 150 matched controls. The generic short form (SF)-12 questionnaire, the Iowa Fatigue Scale (IFS), the chronic liver disease (CLD) questionnaire, and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) were applied to measure the HRQOL. Results: A significant difference in the mean IFS score was found among the three groups. Higher mean scores were observed among cases compared to controls [32.4 ± 11.3 vs 20.7 ± 5.8, OR (95% CI); 11.3 (9.6–13.7), P < 0.0001] and to the IFN group [32.4 ± 11.3 vs 25.1 ± 7.3, OR (95% CI); 5.8 (2.9–6), P < 0.0001]. The mean score was relatively higher among the IFN group compared to the controls [32.4 + 11.3 vs 25.1 ± 7.3, OR (95% CI); 7.3 (5.1–9.5), P < 0.0001]. Categorical scores of IFS in terms of cognitive, fatigue, energy, and productivity subscale were significantly lower among cases compared to the control and IFN groups. Mental and physical numeric and categorical scores for the absence of disability, CLD scale, and HADS were significantly worse in patients compared to the controls. Conclusion: Our results confirm that the quality of life is reduced in the patients with chronic viral liver disease in comparison with the healthy persons. Antiviral therapy with pegylated IFN-α and ribavirin can significantly improve physical and functional aspects of HRQOL.

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