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World J Hepatol. Nov 27, 2021; 13(11): 1642-1652
Published online Nov 27, 2021. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v13.i11.1642
Health-related quality of life in autoimmune hepatitis
Romée JALM Snijders, Piotr Milkiewicz, Christoph Schramm, Tom JG Gevers
Romée JALM Snijders, Tom JG Gevers, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Radboudumc, Nijmegen 6525GA, The Netherlands
Romée JALM Snijders, Piotr Milkiewicz, Christoph Schramm, Tom JG Gevers, European Reference Network RARE-LIVER, Hamburg, Germany
Piotr Milkiewicz, Liver and Internal Medicine Unit, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw 02-091, Poland
Piotr Milkiewicz, Translational Medicine Group, Pomeranian Medical University, Szczecin 70-204, Poland
Christoph Schramm, First Department of Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg Eppendorf, Hamburg 20246, Germany
Christoph Schramm, Martin Zeitz Center for Rare Diseases and Hamburg Center for Translational Immunology (HCTI), University Medical Center Hamburg Eppendorf, Hamburg 20246, Germany
Tom JG Gevers, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht 6229HX, The Netherlands
Author contributions: Gevers TJ had the original idea and supervised the study; Gevers TJ and Snijders RJ performed the research; Snijders RJ wrote the manuscript; Milkiewicz P and Schramm C contributed equally to this work; All authors critically reviewed the manuscript and approved the final version of the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors report no potential conflicts that are relevant to the manuscript.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Tom JG Gevers, MD, PhD, Academic Fellow, Doctor, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Radboudumc, Geert Grooteplein Zuid 10, Nijmegen 6525GA, The Netherlands. tom.gevers@mumc.nl
Received: March 25, 2021
Peer-review started: March 25, 2021
First decision: June 4, 2021
Revised: June 15, 2021
Accepted: August 16, 2021
Article in press: August 16, 2021
Published online: November 27, 2021
Processing time: 244 Days and 1.2 Hours
Abstract

Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is a severe chronic autoimmune disease and has a significant impact on the patient’s quality of life, in particular regarding psychological problems such as anxiety and depression. Consistent evidence on which patient-related, disease-related or physician-related factors cause health-related quality of life (HRQoL) impairment in patients with AIH is lacking. Current studies on HRQoL in AIH are mainly single-centered, comprising small numbers of patients, and difficult to compare because of the use of different questionnaires, patient populations, and cutoff values. Literature in the pediatric field is sparse, but suggests that children/adolescents with AIH have a lower HRQoL. Knowledge of HRQoL and cohesive factors in AIH are important to improve healthcare for AIH patients, for example by developing an AIH-specific chronic healthcare model. By recognizing the importance of quality of life beyond the concept of biochemical and histological remission, clinicians allow us to seek enhancements and possible interventions in the management of AIH, aiming at improved health.

Keywords: Autoimmune hepatitis; Quality of life; Depression; Anxiety; Corticosteroids

Core Tip: Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is a severe chronic autoimmune disease and has a significant impact on the patient’s quality of life, in particular regarding psychological problems such as anxiety and depression. The health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of patients with AIH can be affected by various patient-related, disease-related, and physician-related factors. In this review we summarized several specific factors that are liable to influence HRQoL in AIH. By recognizing the importance of quality of life beyond the concept of biochemical and histological remission, clinicians allow us to seek enhancements and possible interventions in the management of AIH.