Objective: To investigate the main factors influencing the quality of life and the relationship between quality of life and basic syndromes of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in patients with post hepatitic cirrhosis.
Methods: The outcomes of revised Short Form-36 Health Survey (SF-36) Questionnaire in 108 patients with post hepatitic cirrhosis and the normal control population were assessed, and the related clinical information including gender, age, body mass index (BMI), course of disease, basic syndromes of disease and main laboratory parameters were collected. The data were analyzed by t-test, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and stepwise regression analysis.
Results: The Cronbachs alpha coefficient of the revised SF-36 questionnaire was 0.773, indicating good consistency within the items. The outcomes of revised SF-36 and the scores of physical function, role physical, bodily pain, mental health, and social function in the patients with post hepatitic cirrhosis were significantly lower than those in the normal control population (P<0.01). Correlation analysis showed that there was a correlation between basic TCM syndromes and scores of physical function, mental health, role emotion, vitality, and general health. Stepwise regression analysis indicated that basic TCM syndromes, aspartate aminotransferase, total bilirubin, albumin, and prothrombin time played major role in the quality of life in the patients with post hepatitic cirrhosis, and the values of regression coefficient were 0.262, -0.297 8, -0.483 9, -0.483 9, -0.512 3, -0.571 9 respectively.
Conclusion: The quality of life in the patients with post hepatitic cirrhosis is significantly decreased. The revised SF-36 with basic TCM syndrome items is more objective and has certain clinical practical value on measurement of quality of life in patients with post hepatitic cirrhosis.