Introduction & Objective: Chronic hepatitis B and C will result in limitation of physical and mental functions which in turn reduce the quality of life (QOL) of the patients. The aim of this study was to determine the quality of life among chronic hepatitis B and/or C patients in Hamadan province from March 2011 to March 2012.
Materials & Methods: A case- control study was done using SF-36 questionnaire (Persian version) scoring system for 64 chronic hepatitis B and/or C patients referred to Hamadan Hepatic Clinic and they were compared with 120 controls referred to the Blood Transfusion Center in Hamadan. Different variables including gender, marital and job status, education and location were compared between the two groups. In addition, the correlation of QOL with age ,type of hepatitis(B or C), habit history, type of habitation, admission history, period of diagnosis, number of children and the stage of treatment were assessed among chronic hepatitis B and C patients.
Results: All scores of the QOl among chronic hepatitis patients were significantly lower than those of control group(P<0.05) , and also the QOL of chronic hepatitis QOL of chronic hepatitis group was significantly higher than that of the case group(P>0.05) but QOL among farmers in the case was higher than that of the control. The lowest score in chronic hepatitis patients related to emotional function (26±39), and the highest score was seen in pain variable (55±27) The score of QOL in the end of the treatment was high (49±20) however, the difference was not significant among patients based on treatment steps.
Conclusion: According to this study, we suggest that despite of new treatment and care strategies chronic hepatitis B and C patients still have lower QOL.
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