ArticleJournal of viral hepatitis2026
The Impact of Hepatitis C and Socio-Demographic Variables on Health-Related Quality of Life in Pakistan: Cross-Sectional Study.
Article in Journal of viral hepatitis, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
17 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Approximately 8.8 million people are living with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) in Pakistan. We assessed factors related to health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among the general population screened for HCV and calculated the national burden in quality-adjusted life years (QALYs). A cross-sectional study was conducted in community and clinic-based settings in Karachi and Gujranwala. HRQoL was assessed before diagnosis using EQ-5D-3L (Pakistan value set). Propensity score matching (PSM) was used to address socio-economic differences between HCV RNA-positive (viraemic) and HCV-antibody-negative participants. We assessed socio-demographic and HCV-related predictors of HRQoL (Tobit regression) and problems by EQ-5D domain (logistic regression). The HCV transmission model was used to estimate the burden of HCV in terms of morbidity- and mortality-related QALY loss in 2024. After PSM, 778 individuals remained in each group from a total of 5468 participants. HCV-positive participants had lower HRQoL (EQ-5D-3L score, p < 0.001) and higher odds of problems in all five EQ-5D dimensions. Lower HRQoL was associated with older age and unemployment, while married or Urdu-speaking participants had higher HRQoL. There was little evidence that cirrhosis was associated with HRQoL (p = 0.140) among HCV-positive participants. The total estimated QALY loss due to HCV in Pakistan in 2024 was 804,580 QALYs, of which 55% was due to mortality. HCV infection is associated with reduced HRQoL and substantial QALY losses in Pakistan. Our findings emphasise the role of socio-demographic variables on HRQoL. Further research in Pakistan is needed to determine if HCV treatment can mitigate these effects.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.