A cross-sectional study of health-related quality of life in patients with cirrhosis

Purpose: Although severity of cirrhosis has been shown to be associated with decreased physical aspects of quality of life, the impact on mental aspects has demonstrated controversial results. The aim of this study was to measure HRQOL in patients with cirrhosis. Materials and Methods: The cirrhotic patients (n=93) were consecutively selected from the gastroenterology outpatient clinic and the control group (n=79) was selected from the age and sex-matched healthy volunteers. The participants were asked to complete the widely used generic instrument, Medical Outcomes Study Short Form (SF-36) and a questionnaire for sociodemographic characteristics. Cirrhosis was established histopathologically and clinically. The disease severity was classified according to the modified Child-Pugh classification. Laboratory data included aminotransferases, alkaline phosphatase, gama-glutamyl transpeptidase, total bilirubin, total protein, albumin, globulin, protrombin time, and platelets. Results: The results suggested that patients with cirrhosis had lower domain and summary SF-36 scores compared to control group (p<0.05). The physical component summary (PCS) and mental component summary (MCS) scores of the SF-36 deteriorated in the patients with Child-Pugh class A, B and C compared to controls (p=0.01 and p=0.02, respectively). Also PCS and MCS component of the SF-36 deteriorated between cirrhotic patients compared according to Child-Pugh class A, B and C (p