Health-related quality of life and symptoms in autoimmune liver diseases

Abstract

Assessment of Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) has emerged as an important tool in the evaluation of both the well-being of patients and the results of their clinical management. Over the years, a large number of questionnaires focusing on various aspects of quality of life have been developed. They are frequently divided into generic questionnaires, which can be used under various conditions, disease-specific and symptom-specific questionnaires. Autoimmune liver diseases, such as autoimmune hepatitis, primary sclerosing cholangitis, or primary biliary cirrhosis, comprise a group of rare liver conditions (i.e. affecting fewer than 5 in 10,000 people in the general population). Unfortunately, HRQoL has not been well-studied in this group of patients. In this review, we comprehensively summarize the data available in the literature on HRQoL in these conditions, emphasizing the important role that quality of life plays in the successful management of such patients.