Quality of life assessment in Pakistani patients with chronic liver disease

To find out if advanced liver disease causes decrement in health related quality of life in Pakistani patients.

An observational study was conducted at the Shifa International Hospital Islamabad. Chronic Liver Disease Questionnaire (CLDQ) was administered to patients with liver disease who were either admitted or seen as outpatients. Patients were divided into two groups. Those with no cirrhosis or Child's Class A were placed into group A. Those with advanced liver disease i.e. Child's Class B and C into group B.

A total of 56 patients (mean age 50.6 years) were included in this study. Hepatitis C was the cause of chronic liver disease (CLD) in 52 (92.9%) patients. Twenty-one (37.5%) patients were in group A and 35 (62.5%) in group B. Patients with advanced liver disease had significantly lower CLDQ scores as well as decrement in five out of the six categories for assessing quality of life.

Chronic liver disease causes significant impairment in the Quality of Life Index (QLI) in Pakistani patients.