Evaluation of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire in Swedish patients with Crohn's disease

Objective. Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is an important measure of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) health outcome. The Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire (IBDQ) comprising 32 items grouped into four dimensions is a widely used IBD-specific HRQoL instrument. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the validity, reliability and responsiveness of the Swedish translation of the IBDQ in patients with Crohn's disease (CD). Material and methods. Four hundred and forty-eight patients with CD completed the IBDQ and three other HRQoL questionnaires (Rating Form of IBD Patient Concerns; Short Form-36; and the Psychological General Well-Being Index) in connection with their regular visit at the outpatient clinic. Disease activity was assessed by the physician on a 4-point Likert scale. Thirty-two patients who were stable in remission completed the questionnaires a second time, 4 weeks later. A total of 418 patients repeated all measurements after 6 months. Results. The dimensional scores were highly correlated with other measures of corresponding aspects of HRQoL and were significantly better in remission than in relapse. High test–retest correlations indicated good reliability. Responsiveness was confirmed in patients whose disease activity changed over time. However, high correlations between the dimensions, poor correlations between items within each dimension, and factor analysis all indicated that the original grouping of the items is not valid for Swedish CD patients. Conclusions. Although the Swedish IBDQ has good external validity, reliability and responsiveness for patients with CD, our results did not support the original grouping of the items.     

老年高血压患者生命质量研究进展

随着医学模式的转变,生命质量作为新的健康评价指标已被广泛应用。生命质量评价对于高血压防治、提高高血压患者的生命质量具有重要价值。现就高血压生命质量的研究进行综述。     

A comparison of four quality of life instruments in cardiac patients: SF-36, QLI, QLMI, and SEIQoL

BACKGROUND—With the increasing use of quality of life measures in evaluations of cardiac interventions, criteria are needed for selecting appropriate quality of life measures. An important criterion is the sensitivity of a measure for detecting clinically important changes.
OBJECTIVES—To compare the sensitivity of four measures when used in a group of cardiac patients undergoing the same intervention.
METHODS—The short form 36 (SF-36), the quality of life index-cardiac version (QLI), the quality of life after myocardial infarction questionnaire (QLMI), and the schedule for the evaluation of individual quality of life (SEIQoL) were used to evaluate quality of life in a group of 22 patients after myocardial infarction or coronary artery bypass graft (CABG), at the beginning of rehabilitation and six weeks later. Analysable data were obtained from 16 patients.
RESULTS—A significant improvement over time was only observed for the SF-36 subscale, vitality (p < 0.05). Five of the eight SF-36 subscales and one of the four QLMI subscales showed modest sensitivity (index: > 0.2 and < 0.5), while all other subscales showed poor sensitivity (index: < 0.2). Using SEIQoL, family was most often nominated as an area of importance to quality of life (n = 13), followed by health (n = 10), leisure/hobbies (n = 8), marriage (n = 8), and work (n = 6).
CONCLUSIONS—All four QOL measures used in this study were found to lack sensitivity to change. Further research is needed using other cardiac populations and interventions in order to verify these findings, with a view to developing more sensitive quality of life scales.


Keywords: quality of life; heart disease; short form 36; quality of life index-cardiac version; quality of life after myocardial infarction questionnaire; schedule for the evaluation of individual quality of life     

Quality of Life in Hypertensive Patients Treated with Either Carvedilol or Enalapril

stergren J, Storstein L, Karlberg BE, Tibblin G for the study group. Quality of life in hypertensive patients treated with either carvedilol or enalapril.

An important aspect of antihypertensive drug treatment is quality of life (QL) which should at least not be negatively affected. In this study, the QL during treatment with carvedilol (C), a beta-blocker with vasodilating properties due to alpha-1-receptor blockade, was compared to that of enalapril (E) in patients who had responded to the treatment.

Patients und methods: Patients with mild to moderate hypertension (diastolic blood pressure 95-115 mmHg) were randomised to receive either E(n =119) of C(n = 129) in a double-blind multicenter study. The starting doses were 12.5 (C) and 10 (E) mg with doubling of the dose if necessary at 3-week intervals. If insufficient blood pressure (BP) control was found at 50 mg C or 40 mg E, 12.5 mg of hydrochlorothiazide was added. After having reached the goal BP the patients entered a 5-months maintenance period. General well-being was evaluated by the “Gteborg Quality of Life Questionnaire”.

Results: Equally many patients in the respective treatment groups responded at the different dose levels. Diastolic BP after 5 months in the maintenance period was similar on C and E, respectively. For most items, QL was not affected by the treatments. An increased incidence of cough was perceived in the E group (p 0.001). None of the C treated patients reported frequent cough at the end of the study compared with 12% of E treated patients.

Conclusion: C and E had similar BP lowering effects. Neither treatment seemed to affect the patients QL adversely. Cough, although seldom leading to withdrawal from the therapy, may be more common than is commonly recognised during treatment with ACE-inhibitors.     

Juniper哮喘生命质量问卷在中国哮喘患者中的初步应用

目的通过分析我国哮喘患者Juniper哮喘生命质量问卷(AQLQ)资料,总结Juniper AQLQ应用于我国哮喘患者的初步经验。方法慢性哮喘患者96例,66例用AQLQ中文自我测试版本的普通版,30例用AQLQ标准版,共210例次生命质量评估数据,分析受哮喘限制的活动选择频度、AQLQ总分及4个能区(症状、活动受限、情感功能及环境刺激)与第1秒钟用力呼气容积(FEV1)占预计值的百分比的相关性,不同程度肺功能的患者间AQLQ总分及4个能区是否有差别?观察前后生命质量发生变化时FEV1占预计值的百分比及呼气峰流速(PEF)是否发生了相应的变化?结果AQLQ总分及4个能区除环境刺激外均与FEV1占预计值的百分比呈弱相关(相关系数：0．201～0．284)。不同程度的FEV1占预计值的百分比的AQLQ总分及各能区评分可以很好地反映肺功能的差异。观察前后比较,AQLQ的变化与相应的FEV1占预计值的百分比的变化之间无相关性。AQLQ症状的变化与晨间或晚间PEF的变化相关(相关系数0．301～0．353);情感功能变化与晚间PEF的变化相关;而AQLQ总分与PEF的变化无相关性。结论Juniper AQLQ评分与肺功能相关,在反映病情变化方面可能比肺功能更敏感和更全面。Juniper AQLQ同样也适用于我国的哮喘患者。     

Therapy expectations and physical comorbidity affect quality of life in chronic hepatitis C virus infection

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is associated with a significant reduction of health related quality of life (QOL), the causes and mechanisms of which are still unknown. To explore whether treatment history could affect QOL, we examined patients with detectable HCV viraemia who had a different therapeutic background. Two hundred sixty-four consecutive subjects with chronic HCV infection and detectable viraemia were enrolled. Of these, 163 were untreated patients, 43 were relapsers, 58 were nonresponders (NR) to nonpegylated interferon (IFN) therapy. To assess QOL, three self-report instruments were employed: the Short Form-36 (SF-36), the Chronic Liver Disease Questionnaire (CLDQ-I) and the World Health Organization Quality of Life assessment (WHOQOL-BREF). Clinical and demographic data were collected, and the QOL scores of HCV-positive patients were compared with those of an Italian normative sample and healthy controls. Further antiviral treatment was offered to untreated and relapsed patients but not to NR. All patient groups displayed lower QOL scores compared with the normative sample and controls. NR displayed lower QOL scores in several areas compared with untreated patients and relapsers. In multivariate regression analyses, being NR and having a physical comorbidity were significantly associated with poorer QOL. Conclusions: Treatment history and expectations and physical comorbidity may affect QOL in HCV-positive patients. Untreated and relapsed patients have comparable levels of QOL and higher scores than NR.     

Improvement in Health-related Quality of Life After Hospitalization Predicts Event-free Survival in Patients With Advanced Heart Failure

BackgroundHealth-related quality of life (HRQOL) is a major clinical outcome for heart failure (HF) patients. We aimed to determine the frequency, durability, and prognostic significance of improved HRQOL after hospitalization for decompensated HF.Methods and ResultsWe analyzed HRQOL, measured serially using the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire (MLHFQ), for 425 patients who survived to discharge in a multicenter randomized clinical trial of pulmonary artery catheter versus clinical assessment to guide therapy for patients with advanced HF. All patients enrolled had 1 or more prior HF hospitalizations or chronic high diuretic doses and 1 or more symptom and 1 sign of fluid overload at admission. Improvement, defined as a decrease of more than 5 points in MLHFQ total score, occurred in 68% of patients by 1 month and stabilized. The degree of 1-month improvement differed (P < .0001 group × time interaction) between 6-month survivors and non-survivors. In a Cox regression model, after adjustment for traditional risk factors for HF morbidity and mortality, improvement in HRQOL by 1 month compared to worsening at 1 month or no change predicted time to subsequent event-free survival (P = .013).ConclusionsIn patients hospitalized with severe HF decompensation, HRQOL is seriously impaired but improves substantially within 1 month for most patients and remains improved for 6 months. Patients for whom HRQOL does not improve by 1 month after hospital admission merit specific attention both to improve HRQOL and to address high risk for poor event-free survival.     

Quality of Life Variables in the Selection of Rate Versus Rhythm Control in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation: Observations from the Canadian Trial of Atrial Fibrillation

Many patients with atrial fibrillation develop symptoms attributable to the cardiac arrhythmia itself. These symptoms may be improved either by restoring sinus rhythm or by controlling the rapid and irregular ventricular response that often accompanies this arrhythmia. One of the principal goals of therapy of atrial fibrillation management is improvement of patient symptoms; it is important to quantify these symptoms by some form of quality of life analysis. The Canadian Trial of Atrial Fibrillation (CTAF) was a multi-centre randomized clinical trial of amiodarone compared with either propafenone or sotalol in patients with recent atrial fibrillation. The quality of life (QOL) substudy of CTAF was a prospective, comprehensive assessment of quality of life of patients enrolled in CTAF. Summary measures of physical and mental health on the generic QOL scale (SF-36) improved significantly with treatment from baseline to 3 months (41.9 +/- 9.6 to 43.7 +/- 9.2, p = 0.001 for the physical component and 47.5 +/- 10.4 to 49.0 +/- 9.8, p = 0.023 for the mental component). On an arrhythmia specific scale (SCL), a significant and larger improvement was noted from baseline to 3 months in both arrhythmia symptom frequency and severity (symptom frequency from 20.4 +/- 9.4 to 16.2 +/- 9.5, symptom severity from 16.7 +/- 8.2 to 12.9 +/- 7.6, both p < 0.001). The quality of life improvements were similar in the amiodarone group compared to the sotalol or propafenone groups, both for the SF-36 and the disease-specific symptom checklist (SCL) measures. In contrast, an atrial fibrillation severity scale (AFSS) did show differences between the assigned drug therapies, which were associated with different rates of arrhythmia recurrence in the parent study. By 3 months global well-being was significantly worse for patients who had recurrent atrial fibrillation compared to those who did not (6.9 +/- 1.8 versus 7.4 +/- 1.8, p = 0.04). Similarly, symptom severity at 3 months was 11.8 +/- 7.4 for patients without recurrence, compared to 14.8 +/- 7.4 for those with recurrence ( p = 0.001). Interestingly, none of the usual clinical variables that might be perceived to be associated with quality of life, e.g., male versus female sex, age, NYHA class, beta blocker use, and ejection fraction, had much impact on subjective quality of life measures. Quality of life improves with treatment atrial fibrillation and at least some of these improvements are related to the restoration and maintenance of sinus rhythm.     

Quality of Life in Patients with a Pituitary Adenoma

A validated quality of life (QOL) measure, the SF-36 questionnaire, was used to assess patients' perception of the impact of a pituitary adenoma, prior to treatment, on his or her physical and mental functioning. Of 270 new patients evaluated for pituitary disease at the University of Virginia Pituitary Clinic, 168 met the criteria for inclusion (pituitary hormone hypersecretion and/or pituitary adenoma) into this prospective study. Results of the SF-26 questionnaire in 36 patients with acromegaly, 42 patients with Cushing's disease, 39 patients with a prolactinoma and 51 patients with a non functioning macroadenoma prior to treatment were compared with those of the normal population; a comparison of results among patients with different types of pituitary adenomas was also performed. Patients with a pituitary adenoma had a significantly decreased QOL compared with the normal population in both physical and mental measures (p < 0.05). There were different degrees of perceived impairment depending on the type of pituitary adenoma. Patients with acromegaly had impairment in measures of physical function while patient with Cushing's disease had impairment in all but one measures compared with the normal population and with patients with other types of pituitary adenomas. Patients with a prolactinoma had impairment in mental measures and patients with a non-functioning adenoma had impairment in both physical and mental measures compared with the normal population. Patients with a pituitary adenoma have an impaired quality of life that should be routinely assessed in conjunction with endocrine and anatomic studies before and after treatment.     

Components and determinants of quality of life in community-dwelling older adults

The objectives of this study are to detect the main components of global quality of life (QoL) of community-dwelling older adults from their own perspective and to identify determinants of health-related and global QoL in the same population. This is a cross-sectional study covering a representative sample of 1,106 community-dwelling adults aged 60 years and older residing in Spain. The survey collected information on QoL through a face-to-face interview asking for QoL components in free-format, as well as the completion of two QoL measures, the EQ-5D and the Personal Wellbeing Index. The most important QoL dimensions, according to the participants of this study, were health, family, and finances. Depression was the main determinant of both QoL indices, while functional independence and social support specifically influenced health-related and global QoL, respectively. Based on the perspective of the older adults as well as on statistical analysis, this work emphasizes the importance of health, family, and social support as areas of special interest in aging. There was a discrepancy when comparing findings related to the importance of financial status. Results also support that global and health-related QoL share some common determinants, but with different weights for functional independence and social support.     

Domains of Life Satisfaction Among Patients Living With HIV: A Factor Analytic Study of the Quality of Life Inventory

This study sought to identify multidimensional factors of life satisfaction in individuals with HIV through a factor analysis of the Quality of Life Inventory (QOLI), and to examine the relationship of these factors to health-related quality of life, depression, and medication adherence. Four quality of life domains emerged: Achievement, Self-Expression, Environment, and Interpersonal Relationships. QOLI means were substantially lower than the normative means and were significantly related to the SF-12 mental (but not the physical) component summary. Multidimensional assessments of quality of life in HIV may help specify targets sensitive to psychosocial interventions.     

Pretransplant variables associated with quality of life in liver transplant recipients

Objective: With an increasing number of liver transplant recipients living, understanding quality‐of‐life issues is essential. Our goal is to identify pretransplant variables associated with post‐transplant quality of life in liver transplant recipients. Methods: Three hundred and eight liver transplant recipients were administered the Short Form 36 and a basic demographical questionnaire. Variables associated with post‐transplant quality of life were studied in a multivariate regression analysis. Interaction terms were used to examine effect modification. Results: Male gender, longer pretransplant work hours and interaction term between work hours and male gender were independently associated with Physical Functioning. Work hours positively correlated with Role‐Physical, while viral hepatitis and ascites were negatively associated with Role‐Physical. Ascites and viral hepatitis were independently negatively associated with Bodily Pain. Encephalopathy, hepatocellular carcinoma and viral hepatitis were independently associated with General Health. Ascites was also negatively associated with Social Functioning, Role‐Emotional, Bodily Pain, General Health and Vitality. Viral hepatitis was negatively correlated with Vitality and Mental Functioning. Conclusions: Pretransplant variables such as ascites, encephalopathy, hepatocellular carcinoma, viral hepatitis, work hours, time unable to work and gender were significantly associated with post‐transplant quality of life in liver transplant recipients. Interventions addressing these issues may be initiated to improve the post‐transplant quality of life.     

Case control study on health-related quality of life in adult coeliac disease

AIMS: To evaluate whether health-related quality of life in adult coeliac disease is related to: 1) adhesion to gluten-free diet; 2) manifestation of clinical features; and 3) associated diseases. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 68 coeliac patients (54 female and 14 male) aged between 18 and 74 years, on gluten-free diet for at least two years were studied. The subjective health status was measured by means of the Short Form 36 Health Survey. A series of 136 subjects, matched according to sex, age and ethnic group, were evaluated as control group. RESULTS: Patients obtained worse scores with respect to healthy controls at all domains of Short Form 36 Health Survey (p<0.05); compliers showed better results than non-compliers. The lowest scores were obtained in patients with more than six symptoms, mostly in non-compliers, the highest in compliers with less than six symptoms. Patients with two or more associated diseases presented significantly worse scores than patients with only one associated disease. CONCLUSIONS: The importance of gluten-free diet in clinical management of coeliac disease is confirmed by results of the present study; moreover, the results seem to indicate that a complex interplay of factors should be taken into account in evaluating health-related quality of life in adult coeliac disease. Accordingly, our data show that health-related quality of life of coeliac patients is impaired not only by poor compliance but also by different negative factors such as severity of illness (in terms of number of symptoms) at diagnosis and comorbidity.     

Quality of life and obesity

Interest in the quality of life of patients with different diseases continues to grow. Recent years have witnessed a dramatic rise in the prevalence of obesity worldwide, stimulating interest in the health and quality of life consequences of this phenomenon. The body of research on the quality of life of obese individuals has grown to a point that a review of this literature is warranted. Numerous studies have demonstrated that obese persons experience significant impairments in quality of life as a result of their obesity, with greater impairments associated with greater degrees of obesity. Weight loss has been shown to improve quality of life in obese persons undergoing a variety of treatments. Further research is needed to clarify whether quality of life differs among subsets of obese persons. Until recently, there has been little standardization of quality of life measures in obesity. The SF‐36 has been used in a number of studies of obese persons. Several obesity‐specific instruments have also been developed and have shown great promise. The quality of life of obese individuals is an important issue that should be included in weight management treatment and research.     

矽肺患者生存质量调查分析

目的评价并分析矽肺患者生存质量状况及其影响因素。方法采用WHOQOL．100量表调查150例矽肺患者及150例未患矽肺工人，将调查结果用sPSs11．0统计软件进行分析。结果矽肺患者生存质量较对照组明显减低，特别是在躯体疼痛、精力、睡眠、信心、负性情感、行动能力、日常生活能力、依赖性、获取信息、休闲活动、信仰，总体健康等方面与未患矽肺工人比较，差异有显著性（P〈0．01或P〈0．05）。矽肺患者并发症的多少、期别的高低、年龄、婚姻状况、参与休闲娱乐的机会及参与程度、人际关系的满意度等对生存质量均有影响。结论在对矽肺及并发症进行治疗的同时，重视健康教育，提供心理治疗，鼓励参加休闲活动和社会交往．有利于提高矽肺患者的生存质量。     

新疆包虫病手术患者生存质量评估指标的初步构建

目的研制包虫病手术患者生存质量测定量表。方法根据文献资料和前期包虫病住院患者生存质量的调查,结合专家咨询拟定包虫病手术患者生存质量的评价指标体系草案;用德尔菲法（Delphi）编制专家问卷,向18名从事包虫病研究的专家发放问卷,对所得数据进行积极度、协调程度、权威程度的统计与评价。结果两轮专家咨询的积极系数分别为100％,94％,两轮专家权威程度分别为0．83、0．85,两轮的专家协调系数分别为0．33、0．41,共确定5个维度30个评价指标。结论在两轮专家问卷调查的基础上,包虫病手术患者的生存质量评价指标体系基本形成。     

Improved quality of life for romiplostim-treated patients with chronic immune thrombocytopenic purpura: results from two randomized, placebo-controlled trials

Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is a major concern for adults with chronic immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) due to the symptoms associated with the disease and its treatment. This study utilized the ITP-patient assessment questionnaire (ITP-PAQ), a specialized HRQoL questionnaire for ITP, to investigate the humanistic burden of ITP and the impact of romiplostim therapy on HRQoL in two, placebo-controlled, phase 3 clinical trials of splenectomized and non-splenectomized patients. ITP-PAQ was self-administered to ITP patients at baseline, and weeks 4, 12 and 24 of treatment. Splenectomized patients had lower baseline HRQoL scores than non-splenectomized patients in seven of 10 scales ( P  <   0·05). After 24 weeks of romiplostim therapy, splenectomized patients showed significant improvements over placebo in four of 10 ITP-PAQ Scales (Symptoms, P  =   0·0337; Bother, P =  0·0126; Social Activity, P  =   0·0145; and Women's Reproductive Health, P  =   0·0184). Non-splenectomized patients demonstrated significant improvement over placebo in the Activity Scale ( P  =   0·0458). Data pooled from the two trials, adjusted for splenectomy status, showed significant improvement for romiplostim-treated patients in six scales; Symptoms, Bother, Activity, Fear, Social Activity and Women's Reproductive Health. These results suggest that adult patients with chronic ITP have improved HRQoL following romiplostim therapy.     

Urinary and Fecal Incontinence and Quality of Life in African Americans

OBJECTIVES: To investigate associations between quality of life (QoL) and incontinence in a population‐based African‐American sample. DESIGN: Cross‐sectional survey. SETTING: Metropolitan St. Louis, Missouri. PARTICIPANTS: Eight hundred fifty‐three non‐institutionalized African Americans aged 52 to 68 in the African American Health study. MEASUREMENTS: Respondents who reported having involuntarily lost urine over the previous month were classified as having urinary incontinence (UI), and respondents who reported having lost control of their bowels or stool over the past year were classified as having fecal incontinence (FI). QoL was measured using the Medical Outcomes Study 36‐Item Short‐Form Health Survey (SF‐36) and the 11‐item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES‐D). RESULTS: Prevalences of UI and FI were 12.1% (weighted n=102/841) and 5.0% (weighted n=42/841). Participants with UI and those with FI had worse SF‐36 scores than their referent groups (physical function ?15.5 and ?38.1 points, respectively; role physical ?13.2 and ?26.5 points; bodily pain ?15.7 and ?24.5 points; general health perceptions ?15.5 and ?27.6 points; vitality ?15.0 and ?16.5 points; social functioning ?18.4 and ?25.6 points; role emotional ?13.2 and ?22.1 points; mental health ?12.2 and ?17.5 points; all Ps<.001), adjusting for age, sex, body mass index, and chronic conditions. Proportions with clinically relevant levels of depressive symptoms were also higher in both groups (UI+17.9%; P<.001) and FI (+37.2%; P<.001) than in their referent groups. CONCLUSION: UI and FI were strongly associated with worse health‐related QoL as well as symptoms of depression in this population‐based sample of African Americans.     

Health status and health-related quality of life associated with hemophilia

The hemophilias are a group of disorders associated with a chronic burden of morbidity and early mortality. Improvements in these adverse features have been achieved by the use of clotting factor concentrates within comprehensive centers of specialized care providing home infusion programs. Offsetting effects from transfusion-transmitted hepatitis and HIV infection are in recent decline. The net impact of these changes merits assessment. To test the a priori hypotheses that increasing severity of factor VIII deficiency would be associated with an increasing burden or morbidity and that hepatitis and HIV positivity would impair health status further, a cross-sectional study of a population-based cohort was undertaken in a regional hemophilia program in Ontario, Canada. A survey was made of mild, moderate, and severe hemophiliacs over 13 years of age who self-reported their health status using a standard 15-item questionnaire. The responses were converted to levels in the Health Utilities Index Mark 2 (HUI2) and Mark 3 (HUI3) health status classification systems to form multi-element vectors from which single-attribute morbidity and overall health-related quality of life utility scores were determined. The burden of morbidity was greater in hemophiliacs than in the general population and correlated with the category of disease (mild < moderate < severe). Hepatitis and HIV positivity conferred additional burdens of morbidity, which were mainly in the attributes of mobility (HUI2), ambulation (HUI3), and pain (HUI2/3), all of these differences reaching levels of statistical significance. Despite demonstrable improvements in the safety, effectiveness, and utilization of clotting factor concentrates, hemophiliacs continue to experience an important burden of morbidity. Measurement of this burden, as reported here, provides a basis for future economic evaluation of the costs and consequences of health care interventions provided to this population.     

Influence of hepatic encephalopathy on health-related quality of life in patients with cirrhosis

Cirrhosis is associated with decrements in health-related quality of life (HRQOL), but the specific effects of encephalopathy, especially subclinical, on quality of life are incompletely understood. Therefore, the aim of our study was to define the effects of encephalopathy on specific domains of HRQOL in a sample of patients with advanced liver disease. The sample consisted of 160 patients with cirrhosis presenting for liver transplantation evaluation. Health-related quality of life was measured with the Short Form-36 questionnaire. Clinical, demographic, and laboratory data were collected. The presence and degree of encephalopathy was ascertained clinically and by the use of the Reitan trail test. HRQOL scores were compared according to liver disease severity and to the presence and degree of encephalopathy. In addition, scores were compared to US population norms. Data were obtained from 148 patients. Compared to the US general population, the physical and mental component summary scores were lower in patients with cirrhosis. Among patients with cirrhosis, there were no significant differences in the physical and mental component summary scores according to age, gender, ethnicity, and etiology (hepatocellular versus/ cholestatic and HCV versus non-HCV). Increasing severity of liver disease (based on the Child-Pugh score), a history of hospitalizations, and a history of ascites were associated with decreased physical component summary scores but not mental component summary scores. Patients with encephalopathy (overt and subclinical) had decreased physical and mental component summary scores compared to patients without encephalopathy. Compared to patients without encephalopathy, those with subclinical encephalopathy had a lower mental component summary score. In conclusion, cirrhosis is associated with a decreased HRQOL, especially at advanced stages. Increased severity of liver disease is associated with decreased physical aspects of quality of life. Overt hepatic encephalopathy negatively affects both physical and mental aspects of quality of life, whereas subclinical encephalopathy affects mainly the mental aspects, independently of liver disease severity.