Prevalence and Impact of Hepatitis on the Quality of Life of Patients

BACKGROUND: Hepatitis is a disorder which is emerging as major health problem with increasing morbidity and mortality. Inappropriate management of this disease leads to several complications that can impair the health related quality of life (HRQoL) of the individuals. There, we designed this study to assess the HRQoL in patients suffering from hepatitis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This prospective, observational study was conducted for 2 months in patients with hepatitis. All patients with hepatitis were recruited in the study after giving written informed consent. The participants were given both World Health Organization Quality of Life-Bref (WHO QoL-Bref) and short form (SF-36) health survey questionnaires for assessing the quality of life (QoL) of patients. The participants were given counseling of lifestyle modification and underwent a thorough medical examination and a detailed history was taken. RESULTS: A total of 65 volunteers participated in the study, out of which 30 were control and 35 were patients suffering from hepatitis; hepatitis C was found to be more prevalent. The patients with hepatitis had a significantly poor QoL as compared to control. In hepatitis patients, physical health and physical functioning was better in males as compared to females. Social relationships were also good in males than females. But females had higher score in role limitation due to physical health, emotional wellbeing, social functioning, pain, general health as per SF-36 scores but it was not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: Hepatitis affected the HRQoL in Indian population and parameters seem to be heterogeneously affected in males and females. HOW TO CITE THIS ARTICLE: Mittal P, Matreja PS, Rao HK, Khanna PML. Prevalence and Impact of Hepatitis on the Quality of Life of Patients. Euroasian J Hepato-Gastroenterol 2015;5(2):90-94.