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RESEARCH PRODUCT
Therapy expectations and physical comorbidity affect quality of life in chronic hepatitis C virus infection.
I. VersaceAlfredo AlbertiElisa BiliottiD. BartolozziNicola CaporasoP.l. AlmasioPaola RucciRosa Cristina CoppolaMarco ChiaramonteS. ZachariaL. CirrincioneGloria TalianiG. SecchiAlfonso MeleMarcello PersicoG. B. GaetaAnnarosa FloreaniAlessio Aghemosubject
AdultMaleQuestionnairesmedicine.medical_specialtyHealth StatusHepatitis C virusComorbidityAffect (psychology)Chronic liver diseasemedicine.disease_causeliver-specific quality of life nonresponse to treatment physical comorbidity quality of lifeWorld healthVirusQUALITY OF LIFEChronic hepatitisQuality of lifeSurveys and QuestionnairesVirologyInternal medicineHumansMedicineChronicAgedHepatologybusiness.industryHepatitis C ChronicMiddle Agedmedicine.diseaseHepatitis CComorbidityhumanitiesAdult Aged Comorbidity Female Health Status Hepatitis C; Chronic; drug therapy/virology Humans Interferons; therapeutic use Linear Models Male Middle Aged Quality of Life Questionnairesdrug therapy/virologyInfectious Diseasestherapeutic useHCVLinear ModelsPhysical therapyFemaleInterferonsbusinessdescription
Summary. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is associated with a significant reduction of health related quality of life (QOL), the causes and mechanisms of which are still unknown. To explore whether treatment history could affect QOL, we examined patients with detectable HCV viraemia who had a different therapeutic background. Two hundred sixty-four consecutive subjects with chronic HCV infection and detectable viraemia were enrolled. Of these, 163 were untreated patients, 43 were relapsers, 58 were nonresponders (NR) to nonpegylated interferon (IFN) therapy. To assess QOL, three self-report instruments were employed: the Short Form-36 (SF-36), the Chronic Liver Disease Questionnaire (CLDQ-I) and the World Health Organization Quality of Life assessment (WHOQOL-BREF). Clinical and demographic data were collected, and the QOL scores of HCV-positive patients were compared with those of an Italian normative sample and healthy controls. Further antiviral treatment was offered to untreated and relapsed patients but not to NR. All patient groups displayed lower QOL scores compared with the normative sample and controls. NR displayed lower QOL scores in several areas compared with untreated patients and relapsers. In multivariate regression analyses, being NR and having a physical comorbidity were significantly associated with poorer QOL. Conclusions: Treatment history and expectations and physical comorbidity may affect QOL in HCV-positive patients. Untreated and relapsed patients have comparable levels of QOL and higher scores than NR.
| year | journal | country | edition | language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007-01-01 |