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 posthepatitic cirrhosis.
Methods

The outcomes of revised Short Form-36 Health Survey (SF-36) Questionnaire in 108 patients with posthepatitic 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 Cronbach’s α 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 posthepatitic 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 billirubin, albumin, and prothrombin time played major role in the quality of life in the patients with posthepatitic 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 posthepatitic 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 posthepatitic cirrhosis.

Key words: Hepatitis, Liver cirrhosis, Quality of life, Syndrome, Traditional Chinese medicine