Objective: To survey patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) to determine their perceptions of CHB-related quality of life (QOF) and to determine the factors influencing this measure.
Methods: A total of 268 patients with CHB (disease group) and 205 healthy individuals (control group) completed the World Health Organization (WHO)QOL-BREF life assessment survey and a self-designed questionnaire of health and QOL. The groups' responses were comparatively analyzed by the cluster sampling method and the independent samples t-test. The strength of influence of each factor on the patients' perceptions of QOL was determined by multiple stepwise regression and one-way ANOVA.
Results: The disease group had significantly lower scores than the control group for overall QOL (62.88 ± 8.22 vs. 67.31 ± 5.82), the physiological area (PHYS: 64.71 ± 15.05 vs. 73.21 ± 11.26), the psychological area (PSYCH: 64.35 ± 14.71 vs. 68.94 ± 10.13), the social relations area (SOCIL: 67.20 ± 12.98 vs. 69.83 ± 8.65), the environmental area (ENVIR: 59.58 ± 13.23 vs. 63.97 ± 10.24), the QOL self-assessment (60.75 ± 21.54 vs. 66.90 ± 17.57) and the health self-assessment (58.13 ± 19.15 vs. 76.26+/-14.27) (all, P less than 0.05). Multiple stepwise regression analysis identified the following parameters as risk factors of PHYS: depression (P less than 0.001), perception of being seriously ill (P less than 0.001), self-payment for treatment (P = 0.003), CHB significant impact on income (P = 0.002), poor appetite (P = 0.002), langur (P less than 0.001), and fear of infecting others (P = 0.022). Confidence of treatment was a protective factor of PHYS (P = 0.001). The risk factors of PSYCH were depression (P less than 0.001) and recurrence (P less than 0.001), and the protective factors were confidence of treatment (P = 0.003) and male sex (P = 0.014). The risk factors of SOCIL were depression (P less than 0.001, dissatisfaction with the attitude of the people around (P = 0.001), recurrence (P = 0.008), and advanced age (P = 0.009), and the protective factors were social support (P less than 0.001) and confidence of treatment (P = 0.015); however, the scores were significantly different for different occupations (P = 0.008). The risk factors of ENVIR were depression (P less than 0.001), dissatisfaction with the attitude of the people around (P less than 0.001), living in rural area (P = 0.007), and recurrence (P = 0.016).
Conclusion: Patients should be monitored for depressive symptoms during the course of clinical medical care for CHB so that psychological care may be initiated in a timely manner. It is important to strengthen communication between healthcare professionals and patients in order to improve the patient's perception of social support and quality of life.