Evaluation of the quality of life in chronic liver disease

AIM: Quality of life may be adversely affected due to disability in physical functions and deterioration in physical and mental health, in individuals with chronic diseases. Chronic liver diseases are usually asymptomatic. But, there is a significant deterioration in quality of life due to systemic complaints such as fatigue, nausea, itching, anorexia and psychological disorders, in some patients. Even before cirrhosis develops, deterioration in quality of life can be seen in the early stages of the disease. The effects of the disease on the quality of life should be investigated and corrected. Identifying the main problems affecting patients' quality of life will help determine the measures that can be taken. In the current study, it is aimed to evaluate the quality of life of patients with chronic liver disease using the Short-Form 36 scale. METHOD: 125 patients to whom applied to the Gastroenterology Outpatient Clinic and Service due to Chronic Liver Disease (CHD), were included in the study. There was no control group in our study. Those with additional chronic diseases other than chronic liver disease were excluded from the study as much as possible, considering that it would further affect their quality of life and reduce their quality of life. The quality of life of the patients was evaluated using the Short-Form 36 scale. The data were evaluated using descriptive statistics (number, percentage distribution, mean, standard deviation, median, min-max values), independent groups t test, Pearson correlation test and kruskal-wallis test. RESULTS: In the study 64 patients (51.2%) were female and 61 patients (48.8%) were male. Age average of the patients was determined as 52.5 ± 13.8 years. The MELD score of 80.0% of the patients is below 10; the MELD score of 15.2% of the patients was 11-20, the MELD score of 4.8% of the patients was 21-30. The patients was determined as %84.8 in the Child A, as %13.6 in the Child B, %1.6 in the Child C group. Subscale scores except vitality (r = -0.11 p = 0.219) and mental health (r = -0.11 p = 0.206), showed significant correlation with Child Pugh. Role difficulty (emotional) subscale showed the strongest correlation (r = -0.41 p = <0.001). Similarly, subscale scores except vitality (r = -0.15 p = 0.090) and mental health (r = -0.10 p = 0.249), showed significant correlation with the MELD score. Role difficulty (emotional) subscale showed the strongest correlation (r= -0.44 p= <0.001). The Child Pugh and MELD score showed a strong correlation with the effect on quality of life (r = 0.79 p = <0.001). CONCLUSION: In the current study demonstrated that quality of life is impaired in CHD patients, similar to the literatüre and the severity of CHD correlates with impaired quality of life values. Many physical and psychological factors have been associated with impaired quality of life. As the number of studies showing the strength of the relationship of these factors with the quality of life increases, it will be easier to determine the factors to be focused on in treatment. Keywords: Chronic liver disease, Quality of life, Child Pugh, MELD score