Hepatitis C Virus Infection as a Traumatic Experience

• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0110529
• Publication Date: 2014-10-23T21:17:27Z
• Authors: Mychelle Morais-d...; Renato Daltro-Oli...; Karine Miranda Pe...; Adriana Dantas-Du...; Luciana Di-Domizi...; Patrícia Cavalcan...; Carlos Teles Santos; Maria Isabel Schi...; Liana R. Netto; Lucas Araújo-de-F...; Raymundo Paraná; Ângela Miranda-Sc...; Karestan C. Koenen; Lucas C. Quarantini
• Keywords: Adult; Male; 0301 basic medicine; Post-traumatic stress disorder--Diagnosis; Epidemiology; Science; 150; 610; Hepacivirus; Medical sciences; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic; Young Adult; 03 medical and health sciences; Humans; Aged; Demography; 0303 health sciences; Hepatitis C virus; 4. Education; Q; R; Hepatitis C, Chronic; Middle Aged; 3. Good health; Multivariate Analysis; Quality of Life; Medicine; Female; Mental health; Brazil; Stress, Psychological; Research Article

Objective The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether individuals consider their HCV infection to be a potentially traumatic experience. Additionally, we investigated its association with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and the impact of PTSD diagnosis on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in HCV infected subjects. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional survey of 127 HCV-infected outpatients recruited at a University Hospital in Salvador, Brazil. All subjects answered an orally-administered questionnaire to gather clinical and socio-demographic data. We investigated traumatic experiences and the subject's perception of the disease using the Trauma History Questionnaire. PTSD and other psychiatric diagnoses were assessed through the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview-Brazilian Version 5.0.0 (M.I.N.I. PLUS). HRQoL was assessed using Short-Form 36 (SF-36). Results Approximately 38.6% of the patients considered hepatitis C to be a traumatic experience. Of these, 60.7% had a PTSD diagnosis. PTSD was associated with significant impairment in quality of life for individuals in seven SF-36 domains as shown bymultivariate analysis: Role-Physical (β: −24.85; 95% CI: −42.08; −7.61), Bodily Pain (β: −19.36; 95% CI: −31.28; −7.45), General Health (β: −20.79; 95% CI: −29.65; −11.92), Vitality (β: −11.92; 95% CI: −20.74; −3.1), Social Functioning (β: −34.73; 95% CI: −46.79; −22.68), Role-Emotional (β: −26.07; 95% CI: −44.61; −7.53), Mental Health (β: −17.46; 95% CI: −24.38; −10.54). Conclusion HCV is frequently a traumatic experience and it is strongly associated with PTSD diagnosis. PTSD significantly impaired HRQoL.