OBJECTIVETo investigate the prevalence and correlative factors of subclinical hepatic encephalopathy (SHE) in patients with cirrhosis in China by using psychometric tests with big sample size.

METHODS409 patients with cirrhosis and 416 patients with chronic hepatitis were investigated for the prevalence of SHE. In prevalence study questionnaire, psychometric tests (NCT and DST), laboratory data were used to estimate their liver function.

RESULTSAccording to age, the patients were divided into 5 groups (including<35, 35 to 44, 45 to 54, 55 to 64 and >65 groups). There was highly statistical significance on the results of NCT and DST, between the cirrhosis patients and the controls (t> or =4.108, P<0.01). The prevalence of SHE in cirrhosis patients was 51.3%. Highly statistical significance was found (chi 2=23.910, P<0.01) among the Child-Pugh A, B, C groups (39.9%, 55.2% and 71.8%). According to age, gender, smoking, etiology and education, no statistical significance was found. Logistic regression showed that there was a close relationship between the SHE prevalence and the Child-Pugh score only, and no relationship had been found between the SHE prevalence and other factors including age, gender, smoking, etiology and education.

CONCLUSIONThe SHE prevalence in hepatic cirrhosis patients is 51.3%, and the Child-Pugh score may be an important risk factor