Self-reported fatigue and depressive symptoms as main indicators of the quality of life (QOL) of patients living with HIV and Hepatitis C: implications for clinical management and future research

Abstract

Purpose: To analyze the impact of self-reported fatigue and depressive symptoms on the quality of life (QOL) of patients co-infected with HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) not receiving anti-HCV therapy.

Method: We used data from a cross-sectional survey conducted among 115 co-infected adults including an assessment of QOL (WHOQOL-HIV bref questionnaire), depressive symptomatology (Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale [CES-D]), and fatigue (Fatigue Impact Scale [FIS]).

Results: Eighty-four percent of patients had been infected through injecting drug use (IDU). Half reported a history of depression or other psychiatric co-morbidities, 57% presented depressive symptoms, and 69% reported fatigue. FIS and CES-D scores accounted for 54% and 66% of total variance in psychological QOL and level of independence-related QOL, respectively, in a multivariate analysis adjusted for sociodemographic and clinical characteristics and alcohol or drug use. High FIS scores were independently associated with impaired physical QOL and social relationships, whereas high CES-D scores were independently associated with lower environmental QOL.

Conclusion: Self-reported fatigue and depressive symptoms are the best indicators of co-infected patients' QOL. These two indicators could be more easily used for a better clinical management of co-infected patients and also introduced as patient outcome measures in clinical research.