Knowledge, Attitudes, and Beliefs of Patients with Chronic Liver Disease

OBJECTIVES: To explore knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, and barriers to care among patients with chronic liver disease (CLD). METHODS: Three separate, one-time-only, 60-minutes focus group sessions were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using an editing style of analysis. RESULTS: In total, 13 focus group participants provided 254 discrete comments. Emerging themes included: negative lifestyles/behaviors, lack of CLD knowledge, negative attitudes/emotions, stigma and negativity, health insurance, inaccessible/high cost medical care, drug/alcohol abuse, and discriminately sharing CLD diagnoses. CONCLUSIONS: Participants felt lack of CLD knowledge was a key factor in how patients perceived prevention, risks, causes, and treatment. These findings contribute to the important, yet limited, base of knowledge about CLD and provide a benchmark for future, more extensive studies and interventions.