Abstract

Objectives

Chronic viral hepatitis is associated with severe impairment and reduction in patient health-related quality of life because of the substantial morbidity associated with advanced liver disease. The aim of this study was to identify and synthesize utilities for chronic hepatitis B (cHBV), C (cHCV), and D (cHDV) through a systematic literature review (SLR) and meta-analyses.

Methods

Electronic databases were searched from inception to May 2023 to identify primary studies reporting health-state utilities in English in patients aged 18 years and over, with cHBV, cHCV, or cHDV in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe, Canada, Australia, or New Zealand. Meta-analyses were conducted for studies reporting a measure of uncertainty; model selection (fixed and random) was based on the observed levels of heterogeneity among studies.

Results

A total of 24 studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in the meta-analyses. More studies meeting the inclusion criteria reported utilities for cHCV (n = 20) than for cHBV (n = 8); no studies reported utility values for cHDV. Although mean utilities were higher for cHBV compared with cHCV for any given health state, utilities decreased with disease progression toward cirrhosis health states. Meta-analyses in cHCV found a utility decline of 0.1 and 0.03, based on progression from noncirrhosis to compensated cirrhosis and for decompensation in established cirrhosis, respectively.

Conclusions

Chronic viral hepatitis is associated with a considerable impairment in health-related quality of life. Despite our findings, there is a need for more evidence on the lived experience in patients living with chronic hepatitis, notably in cHBV and cHDV.