Disparities in activity level and nutrition between patients with chronic hepatitis C and blood donors.

Objective: To compare physical activity levels and dietary choices of patients who have chronic hepatitis C (CHC) with those of blood donors (BDs).

Design: A prospective survey.

Setting: A liver disease treatment center and a blood donor center from a nonprofit health system.

Nutritional assessments of patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

Background: Obesity is not only associated with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) but it also adversely affects the progression of other liver diseases. There are limited data regarding the dietary habits of patients with chronic liver disease.

Methods: Nutrition surveys containing 13 different food groups were mailed.

Impact of chronic liver disease and cirrhosis on health utilities using SF-6D and the health utility index.

Assessment of health-related quality of life (HRQL) and health utilities have become important aspects of clinical research. Patient-derived utility adjustments are frequently used in economic analysis. Although HRQL has been frequently studied among patients with liver disease, extensive data on the health utilities of patients with liver disease are not available.

Health-related quality of life in patients with chronic hepatitis B.

Unlabelled: Although chronic hepatitis C (CH-C) has consistently been shown to impair patients' health-related quality of life (HRQL), the impact of chronic hepatitis B (CH-B) on HRQL has not been fully explored.

Aim: Compare HRQL between patients with CH-B, CH-C, primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) and healthy controls.

Design: Three HRQL questionnaires [Chronic Liver Disease Questionnaire (CLDQ), Short Form 36 (SF-36) and the Health Utility Index (HUI Mark-2 and Mark-3)] were administered prospectively.

Impact of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease on chronic hepatitis B.

Background: The impact of superimposed non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is well established in patients with chronic hepatitis C (CH-C), but the impact in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CH-B) is less clear.

Aim: This study aims to evaluate the prevalence of NAFLD in patients with CH-B and the association with viral and host factors, particularly in patients with metabolic syndrome (MS).

Design: Data from patients with CH-B was obtained from our databases.

Fatigue and health-related quality of life (HRQL) in chronic hepatitis C virus infection.

In addition to chronic hepatitis, many individuals infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) suffer from fatigue, which may compromise their health-related quality of life (HRQL). To assess systematically health-related quality of life (HRQL) in patients with chronic hepatitis C and to determine if any clinical, biochemical, virologic, demographic, and histologic features are associated with HRQL status. In this cross-sectional observational study, one hundred thirty patients with chronic HCV infection (HCV RNA positive by PCR) and 61 healthy controls were enrolled from a tertiary care teaching medical center.

The effects of HCV infection and management on health-related quality of life.

Unlabelled: Infection with HCV leads to an array of symptoms that compromise health-related quality of life (HRQL). Chronic hepatitis C is treated primarily with pegylated interferon (peg-IFN) and an inosine 5' monophosphate dehydrogenase inhibitor, ribavirin (RBV), with the goal of achieving a sustained virologic response (SVR). SVR reduces the rate of hepatic fibrosis and other disease-related complications and, in turn, increases HRQL.