Features of Life Quality Evaluation in People with Chronic Liver Diseases

Nowadays, numerous forms and questionnaires including those for patients with chronic liver disease are developed and successfully tested for almost every common nosology. The most widely used questionnaire is the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36). However, the disadvantage of the SF-36 includes insufficiently sensitive reduction in scales during deterioration in the patient’s condition. The Chronic Liver Disease Questionnaire (CLDQ) used in our study is better in this regard. The analysis of the results of interviewing showed significant differences among different groups. The average amount of received points was the largest in the control group, and the smallest in the experimental subgroup II (patients with cirrhosis). A significant difference was also noted in individual scales of the questionnaire. The signs of fatigue were almost identical in the control group and the experimental subgroup I, however, in the group with cirrhosis they were two times less. In this group people complaining of abdominal symptoms including bloating, abdominal pain and discomfort, and decrease in overall activity prevailed. The same group of patients reported the symptoms of anxiety, temper tantrum and sleep disturbances more often. People with chronic diffuse inflammation of the liver (the experimental subgroup I) differed significantly from healthy patients of the control group by characteristics reflecting anxiety levels, dietary habits, overall capacity, and abdominal symptoms to a somewhat lesser extent.