Social Support, Social Isolation, And Quality of Life Among Patients with Hepatitis A, B, And C

Hepatitis is a group of viral infections that affect the health and social life of an individual. Objective: To explore the association and the role of perceived social support, and social isolation, and their impact on quality of life among patients who have hepatitis type A, B, and C. Methods: A total of 500 participants were taken from the different areas urban and rural areas of Faisalabad.  The participant’s age ranges were between 18 to 55 years. The sample consisted of married participants (n=355, 71%) and unmarried were (n=145, 29%). A further sample was classified into hepatitis A (n=50, 10%), B (n=225, 45%), and C (n=225, 45%).  A purposive sampling technique was used to collect the data. The following measures were used to assess the findings i.e., Demographic Form, Social Disconnectedness Scale, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, and World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF scale was used to assess the quality of life. Results: The analyses reveal that patients with type C of Hepatitis are significantly different on the Social Disconnectedness Scale and the subscales of friends and family are significantly different on the Multidimensional Perceived Social. Furthermore, Analysis of Variance showed that there was a significant difference on each subscale of the World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF among patients with Hepatitis A, B and C [ p<0.01]. Conclusions: It was concluded that social isolation negatively influences patient’s quality of life, the social support plays a vital role in improving patients’ quality of life.