Metabolic Syndrome Is Associated with Health-Related Quality of Life in Suspected Patients with Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis.

OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to examine the effect of metabolic syndrome (MetS) on health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in patients with suspected nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Three hundred thirty-two patients (236 males and 96 females) with suspected NASH from the Amol cohort study were included in this study. MetS was diagnosed based on Adult Treatment Panel III criteria and HRQOL was measured using the 12-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-12) questionnaire (with 8 subscales and 2 summary components). A multivariable linear regression model was used to assess the independent effect of MetS on HRQOL. RESULTS: The mean age of the study population was 42 ± 13 years (range 18-82). The prevalence of MetS was 43.4% (n = 144) and the mean scores on the Physical Component Summary (PCS) and the Mental Component Summary were 72.4 ± 20.86 and 42.7 ± 12.42, respectively. The multivariable linear regression model showed that MetS was negatively associated with 4 subscales of HRQOL that included: role limitations due to physical problems (RP) (B = -14.05, p = 0.004), bodily pain (BP) (B = -7.37, p = 0.02), vitality (VT) (B = -7.72, p = 0.022), and role limitations due to emotional problems (RE) (B = -12.67, p = 0.005) after adjustment for other variables. Also, MetS had a borderline association with the general health and mental health subscales and the PCS (p < 0.1). CONCLUSION: In this study, there was a strong association between MetS and 4 subscales (RP, BP, VT, and RE) of HRQOL in patients with suspected NASH; this could be considered as a part of health policy to improve general health.

Quality of life in epileptic patients compared with healthy people.

BACKGROUND: Epilepsy is a common chronic neurological disorder that has a great impact on people's lives. Patients with epilepsy are at increased risk for poor Quality of Life (QoL). The objective of this study was to evaluate the QoL of epileptic patients in comparison to healthy persons. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 52 epileptic patients from Golbu region in Neyshabur (a city in northeast of Iran). Using Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) scale, the data were collected between April and Jun 2012. Every patient were compared with two healthy persons. Epileptic and healthy persons were similar for age, sex and local residence. Pearson's correlation coefficient and t-independent test applied for data analysis through SPSS v. 16 software. RESULTS: Of 52 epileptic patients, 24 were female (46.2%) and 28 were male (53.8%). The mean±SD age of epileptic patients was 40.92±20.33yr (Rang: 15-86yr). The total mean score of SF- 36 in patient group was 55.88 and in healthy group 68.52and this difference was statistically significant (p<0.001). Among the different subscales of SF-36 in epileptic patients, the highest and the lowest mean scores were found for social functioning and general health subscales, respectively. The mean scores in patient group in comparison to healthy group were lower in all subscales of SF-36 and these differences were statistically significant in all domains (except role limitations due to physical problems domain and role limitations due to emotional problems domain). CONCLUSION: The study showed that epilepsy disease has an important role in QoL of patients, thus some interventional programs are necessary to improve their QOL.