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. 2018 Oct 4;13(10):e0204772.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0204772. eCollection 2018.

Health-related quality of life in patients with autoimmune hepatitis: A questionnaire survey

Atsushi Takahashi  1 , Kei Moriya  2 , Hiromasa Ohira  1 , Teruko Arinaga-Hino  3 , Mikio Zeniya  4 , Takuji Torimura  3 , Masanori Abe  5 , Akinobu Takaki  6 , Jong-Hon Kang  7 , Ayano Inui  8 , Tomoo Fujisawa  8 , Kaname Yoshizawa  9 , Yoshiyuki Suzuki  10 , Nobuhiro Nakamoto  11 , Kazuhiko Koike  12 , Hitoshi Yoshiji  2 , Aya Goto  13 , Atsushi Tanaka  14 , Zobair M Younossi  15 , Hajime Takikawa  14 ; Japan AIH Study Group
Affiliations

Health-related quality of life in patients with autoimmune hepatitis: A questionnaire survey

Atsushi Takahashi et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Aim: Health-related quality of life is impaired in patients with autoimmune hepatitis, but the association between health-related quality of life and patients' backgrounds remains unknown. We assessed health-related quality of life in patients with autoimmune hepatitis and identified factors associated with its impairment.

Methods: We assessed health-related quality of life in patients with autoimmune hepatitis, patients with chronic hepatitis C, and healthy subjects using the Japanese version of the Chronic Liver Disease Questionnaire and the 36-Item Short Form Survey. We compared health-related quality of life in patients with autoimmune hepatitis with that of patients with chronic hepatitis C and healthy subjects.

Results: A total of 265 patients with autoimmune hepatitis, 88 patients with chronic hepatitis C, and 97 healthy subjects were enrolled; most patients were women. The median ages of patients were 65, 66, and 57 years, respectively. Of these patients with autoimmune hepatitis, 10.6% and 57.0% had cirrhosis and comorbid diseases, respectively. The overall Chronic Liver Disease Questionnaire scores (5.5 vs. 6.2, P < 0.001) and physical (48.1 vs. 54.2, P < 0.001) and mental (51.8 vs. 55.0, P = 0.004) component summaries of 36-Item Short Form Survey were significantly lower in patients with autoimmune hepatitis than in healthy subjects, and similar to scores in patients with chronic hepatitis C. Having cirrhosis, comorbid diseases, and treatment for autoimmune hepatitis were associated with impaired health-related quality of life among patients with autoimmune hepatitis. In particular, prednisolone use was associated with lower scores on the worry domain of the Chronic Liver Disease Questionnaire.

Conclusions: Patients with autoimmune hepatitis showed impairment in health-related quality of life, which was associated with not only disease progression, but also comorbid diseases and treatment. Ways to improve health-related quality of life should be considered in patients with AIH when disease outcome is not favorable and when using prednisolone.

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Conflict of interest statement

Yoshiyuki Suzuki received lecture fees from Abbvie GK and Bristol-Myers Squibb. Zobair M. Younossi received lecture fees from Gilead Sciences and Intercept. This does not alter our adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials. The other authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Association between prednisolone dosage and worry domain score of the Chronic Liver Disease Questionnaire.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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