Abstract
People with Hepatitis C (HCV) and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in the United States follow national trends toward a sedentary lifestyle and are increasingly at risk for hypertension. The intent of this study was to identify potential correlates of exercise tolerance in people with two types of chronic liver disease (CLD)-NAFLD and HCV. Measures included cardiac output, oxygen consumption and stroke volume, blood pressure, distance walked in 6 minutes, clinical laboratory tests, and medications influencing the autonomic nervous system, patient self-reports of activity, fatigue, and health-related quality of life (HRQL). A total of 67 patients completed the 6-minute walk test [45.1% Female, Age 51.7 ± 8.0 years, Body Mass Index 32.8 ± 5.9, 60% HCV]. At baseline, 70% had either diastolic (DBP) or systolic blood pressure outside normal range. Performance and cardiorespiratory measures correlated strongly with one another, but not with activity. Patients with abnormal DBP reported significantly lower maximum activity (MAS; r = -.254, P = .041, CI = -0.51 to -0.010; MAS 70.6 vs 82.5), significantly higher DBP post-6-minute walk test (r = .524, P = .0001, CI = 0.287-0.762) and significantly lower overall HRQL items related to physical domains (r = .273, P = .029, CI = -0.518 to -0.029). Mental-domain HRQL and depression measures did not correlate significantly with blood pressure. This study reports a significant correlation between both pre-hypertensive and hypertensive DBP, poor physical-domain self-reports, HRQL, and performance in CLD patients.