Symptoms and distress among patients with liver cirrhosis but without hepatocellular carcinoma in Taiwan

A cross-sectional study design was used to assess the items and frequency of physical symptoms and psychological distress among patients with liver cirrhosis (LC) but without hepatocellular carcinoma. Inpatients with LC were recruited from a medical center in northern Taiwan. Informants were asked to describe their frequency of symptoms and distress at 2 weeks before admission. During August 2008 and July 2009, 49 patients participated. The symptoms and distress were moderate, with a mean of 3.9 and 4.2 of 7, respectively. The mean ranking of subscales from the highest to lowest was abdominal symptoms, fatigue, fluid retention, loss of appetite, systemic symptoms, decreased attention, and bleeding. Symptoms and distress were significantly correlated (r = .59). The total scores of symptoms and distress were not associated with causes of the disease (p = .7644, p = .8548, respectively), disease severity (p = .7203, p = .3354, respectively), disease duration (p = .5820, p = .8184, respectively), or previous admission (p = .3094, p = .7365, respectively), but decreased attention was significantly associated with disease severity (p = .0317) and systemic symptoms were significantly associated with disease duration (p = .0267). The study found that physical symptoms and psychological distress are multidimensional and highly correlated. Our findings can be used to develop a symptom management program to relieve discomfort and indirectly improve the quality of life for individuals with LC.