Evaluation of quality of life and pharmacological efficiency of patients with chronic hepatitis-C

Present study aimed to describe the quality of life and pharmacological efficiency outcomes for Armenian chronic hepatitis C patients.
We performed a prospective study, which included 275 patients with and without chronic Hepatitis C. Patients (175) with chronic Hepatitis C formed case and 200 healthy age-matched patients – control group. For the patient-reported outcomes evaluations we used one general (the 36-item short-form health survey), one specific (gastrointestinal symptom rating scale questionnaire) quality of life questionnaires and one questionnaire for evaluation of psychological status (Spielberger’s tests). In case group evaluation of life quality was done twice – before and after treatment (30th day after end of treatment).
The most common type of psychological disorder was anxiety. It has also been found that 99.7% of patients had high level of reactivity and personal anxiety, making up 43.7±1.3 and 40.2±2.1 points, respectively.
The mean scores (SF-36) in case group for Physical Functioning was 70.1±0.9 points, General Health – 35.2±3.7, Vitality – 43.7±3.5 and in control group was 84.2±1.7; 52.3±4.2; 60.3±3.1, respectively.
The study results showed that the quality of life scores of patients with chronic hepatitis C were significantly lower than in age-matched controls. According to the SF-36 questionnaire, the most affected subscales were General Health and Vitality, according to the gastrointestinal symptom rating scale questionnaire – Indigestion and Constipation. The most common type of psychological disorder in case group was anxiety. Between scores of SF-36 and gastrointestinal symptom rating scale questionnaires were registered strong negative correlation. The highest increases in quality of life scores for case group after treatment were registered for “General
Health” and “Vitality” domains.