risk and protective factors associated with daytime sleepiness in patients diagnosed with hepatitis b or hepatitis c infection

Background: poor sleep quality and daytime fatigue are common features of chronic hepatitis. objectives: to evaluate the association between daytime sleepiness and hepatitis and to identify factors that contribute to daytime sleepiness in patients with hepatitis b and those with hepatitis c. methods: in this prospective crosssectional pilot study, outpatients with fatigue who did not receive any treatment for hepatitis were recruited from the department of gastroenterology and hepatology and were classified into 5 groups of hepatitis b, hepatitis c, hepatitis b + c, other hepatitis types, and without hepatitis (controls). gastroesophageal reflux and daytime sleepiness were determined based on two self-reported questionnaires, and linear and logistic regression analyses were performed. results: in total 42 subjects had hepatitis b, 62 had hepatitis c, 9 had hepatitis b + c, 4 had other hepatitis types, and 14 had no hepatitis. of them, 38 (29.01%) had gastroesophageal reflux (gerdq score ≥ 12), and 13 (9.92%) had daytime sleepiness (ess score ≥ 8). hepatitis b patients with gastroesophageal reflux had significantly higher odds of daytime sleepiness [odds ratio (or) = 12.44, 95% confidence interval (ci) = 1.59 -261.02]. in hepatitis c patients, hypertension was significantly associated with daytime sleepiness (or = 15.6, 95% ci = 2.13 143.21), while those with taller body height and elevated serum glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase (got) levels had significantly lower odds of daytime sleepiness (body height: or = 0.81, 95% ci = 0.65 0.93; got: or = 0.76, 95% ci = 0.55 - 0.95). conclusions: gastroesophageal reflux is a risk factor for daytime sleepiness in hepatitis b patients. in hepatitis c patients, hypertension is a risk factor, while taller body height and elevated serum got are protective factors for daytime sleepiness.