Objective To investigate the relationship between
quality of life and
liver function in
patients with chronic viral
hepatitis B.
Methods Psychological condition was investigated in 536
patients of chronic viral
hepatitis B and 200
normal volunteers with
self-administered 36-item short-form
health survey questionnaire.These
patients were divided into four groups based on their
liver fuction normal,mild, moderate and severe damage,based on their
serum activity of
alanine aminotransferase(ALT)and
serum level of
bilirubin at the
time of investigation.The
patients with abnormal
liver function at the beginning of the study would be retested when
liver function recovered to normal level.Before and after comparison was made for those with abnormal
liver function by Wilcoxon signed rank test.Trend test for the changes in
liver function was performed by Jonckheere-Terpstra test.Results There was significant difference in physical functioning,
role limitation due to physical
health,bodily
pain,
general health perception,vitality,
social functioning,
role limitation due to emotional problems and
mental health between
patient with chronic viral
hepatitis B and
healthy volunteers.It was positively correlated with the degree of
liver function damage. Scores of
general health perception,
role limitation due to physical
health,
role limitation due to emotional problems and vitality were relatively low in
patients with chronic viral
hepatitis B.Conclusions
Quality of life in
patients with chronic viral
hepatitis B was far worse than that in healthy normal people,which related with their
liver function.The more damage to
liver function,the worse
quality of life.Additional psychological
treatment will be helpful for the
patients with chronic viral
hepatitis B other than
drug treatment.