Quality of life among patients suffering from cholestatic liver disease-induced pruritus: A systematic review

A systematic assessment of literature was done to estimate the impact of pruritus on health-related quality of life among patients with cholestatic liver disease (CLD). All the articles were reviewed manually for study design, population, outcomes, and study quality. A qualitative approach was used to analyze and extract data from included studies. A total of eight studies were retrieved, of which one was a cohort study and the other seven were cross-sectional studies. Overall, it appears that the incidence of pruritus was a common complication reported by most of the studies. Among patients with CLD incidence of pruritus was 29%. Pruritus was found to have a substantial impact on patients' health-related quality of life. Greater health-related quality of life impairment was observed with increased severity of pruritus. Pruritus was found to have a significant association (p<0.05) in quality-of-life instrument domains such as role limitation-physical, role limitation-emotional, bodily pain, vitality, energy, and physical mobility. Evidence suggests that pruritus has a substantial impact on health-related quality of life among patients with CLD. More research is required to support the evidence.