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. 2015 Mar 3;7(1):5632.
doi: 10.4081/hr.2015.5632. eCollection 2015 Feb 24.

Interferon α Therapy in Patients with Chronic Hepatitis C Infection: Quality of Life and Depression

Ciro Conversano  1 , Claudia Carmassi  1 , Marina Carlini  1 , Giulia Casu  2 , Paola Gremigni  2 , Liliana Dell'Osso  1
Affiliations

Interferon α Therapy in Patients with Chronic Hepatitis C Infection: Quality of Life and Depression

Ciro Conversano et al. Hematol Rep. .

Abstract

Health-related quality of life was examined in 49 patients with hepatitis C virus with no psychiatric history who received interferon (IFN)-α treatment. Quality of life was assessed at baseline, at 3-time points during IFN-α therapy and at 1-6 month follow-up, using SF-36. Hepatitis C virus patients showed poorer physical functioning and better social and mental functioning than a normal population. Significant decreases from baseline SF-36 scores were observed at an early phase of treatment. Six patients developed major depression during IFN-α treatment. At baseline, they had reported more bodily pain than patients who did not develop depression during treatment. Planned contrasts revealed that worsening in some dimensions of quality of life at 2 months was greater in depressed than in non-depressed patients. Results suggest that depressive symptoms should be accurately monitored during IFN-α therapy even in patients with no psychiatric history, especially if they present with bodily pain.

Keywords: HCV; depression; interferon; quality of life.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interests: the authors declare no potential conflict of interests.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
SF-36 scores in healthy norms (gray column) and patients with hepatitis C virus (black column).
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
SF-36 scores before, during and after interferon-α treatment in patients who developed depression and in those who did not.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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