HEALTH ASSESSMENT FOR CHRONIC HCV INFECTION - RESULTS OF QUALITY-OF-LIFE

The perception that chronic hepatitis C is an asymptomatic disease con trasts with many studies that show a strong association between chroni c hepatitis C, hepatocellular cancer, and fatal liver disease. In orde r to resolve these issues, it is logical to directly evaluate the qual ity of life in patients with chronic hepatitis C and to compare this t o the normal population as well as cohorts of patients with other chro nic diseases. The Sickness Impact Profile was used to evaluate the imp act of disease and interferon therapy on health-related quality of lif e in patients with chronic hepatitis C, Using this tool, patients with chronic hepatitis C had a total Sickness Impact Profile score of 9.0, compared with a score of 3.6 among the general population (P < 0.05). Patients with chronic hepatitis C also had significantly worse scores in almost every category of the Sickness Impact Profile that could be compared. However, statistically significant differences were observe d only at the 24-week evaluation for work and at the end-point evaluat ion for the sleep and rest and recreation and pastimes categories. A m ore sophisticated instrument, based on the Medical Outcomes Study 36-i tem short-form health survey, found that patients with chronic hepatit is C scored significantly lower (P < 0.01) than the general population on each of the subscales in this survey, In addition, they scored sig nificantly lower than patients with hypertension in seven of the subsc ales and two additional generic scales, Patients with chronic hepatiti s C were most comparable to those with type II diabetes. A larger, mor e comprehensive study is underway to further evaluate these relationsh ips.