DIETARY RESTRICTION PRACTICES AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH ALANINE AMINOTRANSFERASE LEVELS IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC HEPATITIS C

Abstract

Objective: To determine the diet restriction practices in patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) and its relationship with alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels.

Methodology: This was a hospital based descriptive study carried out from January 2013 to December 2014. A total of 504 CHC patients of more than 12 years age and of either gender were included in the study. Patients were se- lected by non-probability convenient sampling method. They were thorough- ly asked about their dietary habits, diet restriction, degree of diet restriction (mild, moderate & severe) and about who advised the diet restriction (doctors, quakes, relatives or self-restriction). Diet restriction was correlated with ALT lev- els using chi square test and Spearman rank correlation test. Statistical signifi- cance was considered at p value <0.05.

Results: Out of 504 patients, there were 214 (42.5%) males and 290 (57.5%) females. Age of the patients ranged from 14 to 90 years with mean age of 37.35 ±12.770 years. Diet restriction was present in 332 (65.9%) patients. Among these, 55 (16.56%) had mild diet restriction, 69 (20.78%) had moderate dietary restriction while severe diet restriction was found in 208 (62.65%) patients. In 113 (34.0%) patients, diet restriction was advised by quakes followed by rela- tives or family members in 107 (32.2%), doctors 88 (26.5 %) and self-restriction 24 (7.2%) patients. Correlation of ALT levels with diet restriction or the degrees of diet restrictions was statistically not significant, χ2 =1.865, p value =0.601.

Conclusion: Diet restriction was found in a significant number of CHC patients. Most of them had severe dietary restriction. Correlation of ALT levels with pres- ence of diet restriction or degrees of diet restrictions was not found to be sta- tistically significant.