Predictors of Health-Related Quality of Life among Decompensated Chronic Liver Disease Patients in Peshawar

Abstract

This study aims to evaluate the overall health-related quality of life among patients with decompensated chronic liver disease and to identify clinical factors (e.g., severity of liver disease, comorbidities) and demographic factors that significantly predict health-related quality of life.This descriptive cross sectional study was conducted in Khyber teaching hospital during a period of October to December 2024. A pre designed questionare was used to gather data Data were collected using an interviewer-administered structured questionnaire which was adopted from the Medical Outcomes Study (MOS) 36-item SF-36 health survey. Data was analyzed using spss and Microsoft excel software.Among the total subjects, 61 (61.0%) were male and 39 (39.0%) were female. The average age was 68.6 ± 16.5 years ranging from 41 to 95 years. Among the subjects, about more than half of the subjects had acute complications, i.e. spontaneous bacterial peritonitis in 61 (61.0%) and 61 (61.0%) had porto-systemic encephalopathy Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) with their mean scores and standard deviations, reflecting individuals' physical, emotional, and social well-being. It shows moderate scores for physical functioning, energy, and role limitations, while emotional well-being and general health are lower. The overall HRQoL score is also relatively low, indicating a generally poorer quality of life in this sample. There is a pressing need to develop better healthcare measures that can address the needs of patients with liver diseases, especially older and uneducated patients with severe comorbidities. There is a need to manage socioeconomic barriers and enhance the level of patient education to improve health outcomes and QoL.