Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

Purpose: Hepatitis C is an infectious disease that affects the liver. If left untreated, it can lead to advanced liver disease including liver failure or liver cancer. These complications negatively impact patients' quality of life. Our study aims to measure the quality of life of patients with advanced liver disease in order to better understand the burden of hepatitis C; as well as to understand the benefits of screening and treatment programs that prevent or minimize advanced liver disease. Method: In this ongoing study, we are measuring the quality of life of hepatitis C patients attending the liver clinic and liver transplant clinic at Toronto General Hospital, Toronto, Ontario. Patients with liver scarring (known as cirrhosis), liver failure, and/or liver cancer are being recruited. Patients are being asked to complete several questionnaires about their quality of life as well as provide information about themselves such as their age, sex, physical health, and mental health. Result: We have surveyed 50 patients to date. Most patients were male (65%) with an average age of 60. Sixty-four percent had liver scarring; 19% had current or past liver failure; and 17% had current or past liver cancer. Many patients reported past substance dependence (48% intravenous drug use, 18% alcohol) but none reported current drug use. Additionally, 53% of patients reported a history of mental illness. Quality of life scores ranged from 0.68 to 0.80 depending on the type of survey used. (When interpreting these scores, 0 represents the worst possible health; and 1 represents perfect health.) Conclusion: With many promising but costly new treatments recently becoming available for hepatitis C, it will be important to evaluate them with consideration of the impacts of advanced liver disease and the benefits of avoiding these impacts. Our findings will help the healthcare system select screening and treatment programs that provide the best health for Canadians.