Comparative Evaluation of Oral Ursodeoxycholic Acid in Reducing Bilirubin Levels Among Patients With Acute Viral Hepatitis

Study design: A Quasi-experimental design There is an intervention group (receiving UDCA + standard care) and a control group (receiving standard care only) Study Setting: Medicine department of Combined Military Hospital, Malir, Karachi Study Duration: 6 months Sampling Technique: Non probability consecutive sampling technique Sample Size: Open Epi version 3, was used to calculate the sample size with a two-sided 95% confidence interval and 80% power. This was based on an expected mean difference of 0.3 mg/dL in bilirubin levels between the treatment group (mean = 4.1 mg/dL, SD = 0.5) and the control group (mean = 3.8 mg/dL, SD = 0.5) (6), a minimum of 44 participants per group was calculated to detect this difference, assuming equal variances and group sizes. The total sample size is calculated to be 88 (total N = 88), with 44 participants in each group. Since the total estimated number of eligible admissions during the study period was 200 and the required sample size was 88, a sampling interval (k) of approximately 2 was calculated (k = 200/88 ≈ 2). A random starting point was selected to avoid periodic bias, and thereafter every 2nd eligible patient was included until the desired sample size was achieved. Inclusion Criteria All patients of either gender, aged \>18 years to 50 years with acute viral hepatitis are included. Exclusion Criteria Patients having Hepatitis B, C, hepatocellular carcinoma, primary biliary cholangitis, choldocholithiasis and patients having normal bilirubin levels with AVH were excluded.