Etiology of chronic liver disease in patients admitted at the National Referral Hospital of Bhutan in 2020.

Background and Aim: Chronic liver disease (CLD) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Etiologically there are many factors including hepatitis B virus (HBV) and C virus (HCV) infections, alcohol, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, autoimmune hepatitis, primary biliary cholangitis, primary sclerosing cholangitis, Wilson’s disease, hemochromatosis, etc. Though there is evidence in the literature regarding the etiologies of CLD, no study was done in Bhutan in this area. Therefore, this study was conducted to assess the etiology of CLD in patients admitted in the National Referral Hospital, Thimphu. Methods: A descriptive study was conducted with 71 patients admitted to the National Referral Hospital. The study was done after seeking ethical clearance from the Research Ethics Board of Health (REBH) (Annexure 3) and was conducted from 1st January to 31st December 2020. The data were collected in pro forma and entered in Epi Data version 3.1 and analyzed using Epi Data Analysis version 2.2.2.183 and STATA version 15.1. Results: Out of 71 patients who had CLD, majority 80.3 % were due to alcohol and the least 2 (2.8 %) was due to the combination of alcohol and HBV infection. Conclusion: The study found that the commonest cause of CLD in patients admitted at the National Referral The hospital was alcohol. The findings from this study could help in strengthening the implementation of alcohol policy in the country.