ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the effect of Peg-Interferon α-2a therapy on the quality of life (QOL) of patients with chronic hepatitis C,and to evaluate the effect of healthcare insurance policy in Guangzhou city on these patients.Methods Totally 102 patients with chronic hepatitis C were enrolled.Forty-two patients (group A) were treated with Peg-Interferon α-2a plus ribavirin whose medical expenses were covered by medical insurance; 30 patients (group B ) received the same therapy but at their own expenses ; and the other 30 patients ( group C) were not treated with Peg-Interferon α-2a.QOL of patients in three groups were investigated using the general quality of life inventory questionnaire (GQOLI-74) before and after Peg-Interferon α-2a treatment.Wilcoxon test was used to compare on all scales and total scores before and after treatment in each group,and Kruskal-Wallis test was performed to compare on all scales and total scores among three groups.Results Before treatment,the physical function,psychological function,social function,material life and total score of group A were 55.3,58.8,61.9,60.6 and 58.5 ; those of group B were 57.5,60.4,61.1,55.2 and 58.3; those of group C were 58.6,60.3,57.5,54.8 and 56.4.There was no statistic difference on all scales and total scores among three groups (Z =- 1.177,- 0.846,- 1.062,-0.377 and - 1.085,P ＞ 0.05).After treatment,group A had higher QOL on all scales (67.1,76.4,68.1,70.1) and total score (72.6) than group C (54.6,54.0,53.3,57.5 and 54.6,P ＜0.01) ; group B had higher QOL (P ＜0.05) on three scales (65.1,65.0 and 69.6) and total score ( 64.3 ) except material life ( 56.3 ) than group C ; group A had higher QOL on psychological function,material life and total score than group B ( P ＜ 0.05 ).Conclusions QOLs of chronic hepatitis C patients treated with Peg-Interferon α-2a are higher than those without Peg-Interferon α-2a treatment.Patients whose medical expenses are covered by medical insurance may have higher QOLs than those at their own expenses.