Quality of Life and Perceived Symptom Burden Among Caregivers of Chronic Liver Disease: A Review

Abstract

Chronic liver disease is the 11th leading cause of mortality and the 15th leading cause of morbidity across the world. The World Health Organisation records deaths due to liver diseases as 3.17% in India. It is a progressive deterioration of liver functions as it is a continuous process of inflammation, destruction, and regeneration of liver parenchyma. Caregivers, who are often family members or close relatives, play a crucial role in supporting and providing care to these patients who might also be critically ill due to the diagnosis of various chronic liver diseases. They often experience exhaustion of mental, physical, and emotional arenas of health while taking care of critically ill CLD patients; this in turn affects their quality of life and also contributes towards the symptom burden experienced by the caregivers. Marital status, age, gender, social habits, employment status, economic status, etc. have been shown to significantly affect the quality of life and symptom burden experienced by the caregivers. This abstract provides a brief overview of existing research on quality of life and perceived symptom burden among caregivers of chronic liver disease. It also emphasizes the importance of addressing the mental and physical health needs of caregivers. Design: A thorough literature search was undertaken which included major online databases (PUBMED, SPRINGER, SCIENCE DIRECT, and GOOGLE SCHOLAR). Keywords: Quality of life, Symptom burden, Chronic liver disease