Quality of Life of Patients with Chronic Pancreatitis

Overview

The authors evaluated the quality of life using the Czech version of the SQUALA questionnaire in 45 patientswith chronic pancreatitis grade II and III according to the Cambridge classification. The mean age of thepatients was 43.6 years. In the first stage they compared the quality of life of patients treated conservativelyand by surgery. The two groups did not differ significantly. This indicates that despite improvement aftersurgery complete recovery does not occur because a chronic disease is involved. In part two the authorscompared the quality of life in patients of both groups with the healthy population. In the general profile ofquality of life statistically significant items were health, physical self-sufficiency and environment andhome. In patients with chronic pancreatitis these values were lower. These components form an importantpart not only during the therapeutic process but also during the further course of the disease. The itemenvironment and home was significantly higher in patients than in the healthy population, as it hasa positive effect on the general psychic condition of the patient. By the way of conclusion it may be stated thatchronic pancreatitis treated by conservative or surgical methods has in the examined group a negative impacton four of 23 examined items characterizing the quality of life. The patients emphasize health, i.e. remissionof the disease, physical self-sufficiency and thus associated items food, environment, home which shouldenable them to participate actively in the working process.

Key words:
chronic pancreatitis – quality of life – quality of life profile