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Chronic hepatitis C. Implications for health-related quality of life
M Heitkemper1, M Jarrett, E M Kurashige
1School of Nursing, Department of Biobehavioral Nursing and Health Systems, Box 357266, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA.
Insights
Chronic hepatitis C significantly impacts patients' quality of life, affecting physical and mental well-being even without severe complications. This highlights the need for nursing interventions focused on symptom management.
Area of Science:
- Hepatology
- Infectious Diseases
- Quality of Life Research
Background:
- Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a major public health concern, affecting millions with many unaware of their status.
- Chronic hepatitis C can progress to cirrhosis in 15% of cases within 20 years.
- Existing research indicates a negative impact of chronic hepatitis C on health-related quality of life (HRQoL).
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the current understanding of how chronic hepatitis C affects HRQoL.
- To examine HRQoL during pharmacologic treatment and post-liver transplantation for hepatitis C.
- To identify gaps in research regarding longitudinal HRQoL studies and associated factors.
Main Methods:
- Literature review of cross-sectional and longitudinal studies.
- Analysis of research on HRQoL in patients with chronic hepatitis C.
- Examination of studies considering treatment and transplantation outcomes.
Main Results:
- Patients with chronic hepatitis C report feeling unwell and experience significant physical and mental well-being changes.
- HRQoL is negatively affected even in patients without major disease complications.
- Limited prospective studies exist, particularly concerning symptoms, disease progression markers, and immune function.
Conclusions:
- Chronic hepatitis C substantially diminishes patients' perceived health and well-being.
- Findings have significant implications for nursing care, emphasizing symptom reduction and self-care management.
- Further intervention studies are needed to address the impact on quality of life.
Abstract:
Hepatitis C viral infection with its sequelae is a significant healthcare problem. Hepatitis C infects nearly 4 million Americans with almost half of these unaware of their infection. Many of those individuals infected with hepatitis C develop chronic hepatitis C and in 15% of these patients, the infection will progress to cirrhosis within 20 years. Several cross-sectional and longitudinal studies have demonstrated the negative impact of chronic hepatitis C on health-related quality of life. This review describes what is currently known about the impact of chronic hepatitis C on health-related quality of life during pharmacologic treatment and after liver transplantation. It is important to note that few studies have prospectively followed patients over time with respect to quality of life or examined other factors including symptoms, markers of disease progression, or host immune function. Studies suggest that patients with chronic hepatitis C, even without major disease-related complications, perceive themselves to be unwell and have significant changes in their physical and mental well being. Such results have important implications for nursing care and management. Intervention studies focused on self-care management with an emphasis on symptom reduction are warranted.