Comparative investigation of quality of life and clinical pancreatic index in patients with chronic pancreatitis

Aim. To compare efficacy of using EORTC QLQ-C30 and clinic pancreatic index (CPI) in assessment of severity and treatment efficacy of chronic pancreatitis (CP).
Material and methods. The CPI is proposed which is an integrated quantitative index based on formalization of CP symptoms (number of operations for CP complications, efficacy of outpatient treatment, number of treatment courses in hospital, body mass loss, pain intensity, degree of steatorea, number of daily defecations, other dispeptic complaints, glucose tolerance). Quality of life (QoL) estimated with EORTC QLQ-C30 was compared with CPI in 22 patients before and 1 month after start of treatment of CP with enzyme medicine in combination with proton pump inhibitor and, on demand, analgetic from the group of nonsteroid anti-inflammatory drugs.
Results. A significant negative correlation was observed between QoL and health estimation by the patient according to EORTC QLQ-C30 and total CPI before treatment. At the end of the study this correlation was absent. It was found that both EORTC QLQ-C30 and CPI differed significantly before and after the study. When the indices of both EORTC QLQ-C30 and CPI before and after the study were pooled in groups, strong negative correlations were revealed between total CPI and such EORTC QLQ-C30 parameters as physical, role, cognitive and social function, with patient's assessment of QoL and symptoms severity by EORTC QLQ-C30.
Conclusion. EORTC QLQ-C30 and CPI are similar in reflection of CP severity. CPI is more sensitive than EORTC QLQ-C30 method of assessment of CP treatment efficacy.

chronic pancreatitis, quality of life, pancreatic index