Liver cirrhosis – treatment from the patient’s perspective

To fully assess the impact that treatment has on liver cirrhosis patients, a research team created a set of patient-reported outcomes that healthcare teams can incorporate into their assessments.¹

To understand what matters to patients regarding liver cirrhosis and treatment, patient-reported outcomes, such as quality of life and satisfaction with care, are essential. To create a set of patient-reported outcomes for clinical use, an American research team analyzed 11 of these studies, which in total involved 2299 patients.¹

The study recorded numerous physical outcomes

The researchers summarised the majority of the outcomes into two categories ‘physical symptoms’ and ‘physical functions’. Falling into these categories were factors such as abdominal pain, itching, sexual function, and sleep disturbance. The other categories of outcomes were mental health, mental function, general function, and social life. Satisfaction with care fell into its own category. ¹

Adapting therapy to patient needs

Patient-reported outcomes focus on the patient’s perspective of treatment, and the set created by the American research team is designed to improve clinical care for patients with cirrhosis. By using this set of patient outcomes, the healthcare team can create more individualized treatment optimization.¹