Effect of antiviral treatment on quality of life and its influencing factors among chronic hepatitis C patients

Objective To explore the quality of life(QOL) and its influencing factors in chronic hepatitis C patients after antiviral treatment.Methods Totally 150 chronic hepatitis C inpatients aged 20-58 years were recruited and treated with antivirals from January to December 2013 in a general hospital in Mudanjiang city.The 36-item Short Form Health Survey(SF-36)was employed to evaluate the QOL of the participants one week before the treatment and one month,6 months,and one year after the treatment.Results The scores of QOL of the participants were 64.28±7.16,75.62±11.26,and 85.16±14.31 at 1,6,and 12 month after the treatment and significantly higher than that(49.61±4.13)before the treatment(all P<0.05).Compared to the females,the male participants had a significantly higher QOL score(81.76± 8.89 vs.51.56± 5.84)one year after the treatment(P<0.05).The QOL scores for physical functioning,role physical,bodily pain,general health,and social functioning were inversely correlated with age among the participants at one year after the treatment.The participants with the education of college or above had a significantly higher QOL score than those with the education below college level(82.54±8.08 vs.54.16±4.35,P<0.05) and the participants from the households with better condition had a significantly higher QOL score than those from households with general condition(79.46±8.64 vs.59.34±5.29,P<0.05).Conclusion Antiviral treatment can improve QOL of chronic hepatitis C patients but more attentions should be paid to QOL of women and the elderly with chronic hepatitis C.