Depressive symptoms and harmful alcohol use in hepatitis C patients: prevalence and correlates

Introduction It is important to understand the characteristics and vulnerabilities of people who have hepatitis C because this disease is currently an important public health problem. The objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of depressive symptoms and harmful alcohol use in patients with hepatitis C and to study the association between these outcomes and demographic, psychosocial and clinical variables. Methods This cross-sectional, descriptive and analytical study involved 82 hepatitis C patients who were being treated with pegylated interferon and ribavirin at a public university hospital. The primary assessments used in the study were the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test and the Beck Depression Inventory. Bivariate analyses were followed by logistic regression. Results The prevalence of depressive symptoms was 30.5% (n=25), and that of harmful alcohol use was 34.2% (n=28). Logistic regression analysis showed that individuals who were dissatisfied with their social support (OR=4.41; CI=1.00-19.33) and were unemployed (OR=6.31; CI=1.44-27.70) were at a higher risk for depressive symptoms, whereas harmful alcohol use was associated with the male sex (OR=6.78; CI=1.38-33.19) and the use of illicit substances (OR=7.42; CI=1.12-49.00). Conclusions High prevalence rates of depressive symptoms and harmful alcohol use were verified, indicating vulnerabilities that must be properly monitored and treated to reduce emotional suffering in this population.

引言
了解丙型肝炎（hepatitis C）感染者的特征与健康脆弱性具有重要意义，因该疾病目前仍是一项重要的公共卫生问题。本研究旨在估算丙型肝炎患者的抑郁症状患病率与有害饮酒情况，并探究上述结局与人口学、社会心理及临床变量之间的关联。

研究方法
本研究为横断面描述性分析研究，纳入了某公立大学医院中接受聚乙二醇干扰素（pegylated interferon）联合利巴韦林（ribavirin）治疗的82例丙型肝炎患者。本研究采用的主要评估工具为饮酒问题识别测试（Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test）与贝克抑郁量表（Beck Depression Inventory）。先开展双变量分析，随后进行logistic回归分析。

研究结果
结果显示，抑郁症状患病率为30.5%（n=25），有害饮酒患病率为34.2%（n=28）。Logistic回归分析表明，对社会支持不满意者（比值比Odds Ratio, OR=4.41；置信区间Confidence Interval, CI=1.00~19.33）以及失业者（OR=6.31；CI=1.44~27.70）出现抑郁症状的风险更高；而有害饮酒则与男性性别（OR=6.78；CI=1.38~33.19）及违禁物质使用史（OR=7.42；CI=1.12~49.00）存在关联。

研究结论
本研究证实该群体中抑郁症状与有害饮酒的患病率均处于较高水平，提示存在亟需妥善监测与干预的健康脆弱性，以减轻该人群的情感痛苦。