1. Therapy expectations and physical comorbidity affect quality of life in chronic hepatitis C virus infection
- Author
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I. Versace, Alfredo Alberti, Elisa Biliotti, D. Bartolozzi, Nicola Caporaso, P.L. Almasio, Paola Rucci, Rosa Cristina Coppola, Marco Chiaramonte, S. Zacharia, L. Cirrincione, Gloria Taliani, G. Secchi, Alfonso Mele, Marcello Persico, G. B. Gaeta, Annarosa Floreani, Alessio Aghemo, Taliani, G, Rucci, P, Biliotti, E, Cirrincione, L, Aghemo, A, Alberti, A, Almasio, Pl, Bartolozzi, D, Caporaso, Nicola, Coppola, R, Chiaramonte, M, Floreani, A, Gaeta, Gb, Persico, M, Secchi, G, Versace, I, Zacharia, S, Mele, A., Taliani G., Rucci P., Biliotti E., Cirrincione L., Aghemo A., Alberti A., Almasio PL., Bartolozzi D., Caporaso N., Coppola R., Chiaramonte M., Floreani A., Gaeta GB., Persico M., Secchi G., Versace I., Zacharia S., Mele A., TALIANI G, RUCCI P, BILIOTTI E, CIRRINCIONE L, AGHEMO A, ALBERTI A, ALMASIO PL, BARTOLOZZI D, CAPORASO N, COPPOLA R, CHIARAMONTE M, FLOREANI A, GAETA GB, PERSICO, SECCHI G, VERSACE I, ZACHARIA S, and MELE A
- Subjects
Adult ,Male ,Questionnaires ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Health Status ,Hepatitis C virus ,Comorbidity ,Affect (psychology) ,Chronic liver disease ,medicine.disease_cause ,liver-specific quality of life, nonresponse to treatment, physical comorbidity, quality of life ,World health ,Virus ,QUALITY OF LIFE ,Chronic hepatitis ,Quality of life ,Surveys and Questionnaires ,Virology ,Internal medicine ,Humans ,Medicine ,Chronic ,Aged ,Hepatology ,business.industry ,Hepatitis C, Chronic ,Middle Aged ,medicine.disease ,Hepatitis C ,humanities ,Adult, Aged, Comorbidity, Female, Health Status, Hepatitis C ,drug therapy/virology, Humans, Interferons ,therapeutic use, Linear Models, Male, Middle Aged, Quality of Life, Questionnaires ,drug therapy/virology ,Infectious Diseases ,therapeutic use ,HCV ,Linear Models ,Physical therapy ,Female ,Interferons ,business - Abstract
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.
- Published
- 2007