The aim of this study was to understand better the quality of life (QOL) and illness perception in women with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) through a comparison with women having diabetes.

One hundred and ninety-four women took part in this study: 130 with PBC, 64 with type 2 diabetes. They were administered the SF-12 to measure QOL and the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire to assess representations of their illness. Analysis of covariance with bootstrapping was used to compare QOL and illness perception scores by controlling age and mean disease duration.

Physical QOL was significantly worse for women with PBC than for women with diabetes. Women with PBC felt their disease would last longer and reported more symptoms and concerns related to their disease than women with diabetes. Significant differences were also observed for causes: women with PBC mainly reported autoimmune, emotional, unknown/unlucky and medical causes whereas women with diabetes reported mostly lifestyle and hereditary causes. Marginally significant differences were observed regarding consequences on daily life, feeling of control over the disease and emotional responses, which were shown to be worse in PBC. Mental QOL, treatment control and overall understanding of the disease was similar in both groups.

This study shows that women with PBC have a worse QOL and somewhat different illness perception than women with diabetes. Further research could help understand PBC specificities better in order to improve patient care, especially if factors such as fatigue or rarity of the disease explain these results.