Talk to the Veterans Crisis Line now
U.S. flag
An official website of the United States government
Veterans Benefits and Health Care About VA Find a VA Location

VA Health Systems Research

Go to the VA ORD website
Go to the QUERI website

HSR&D Citation Abstract

Search | Search by Center | Search by Source | Keywords in Title

The impact of chronic hepatitis C and comorbid psychiatric illnesses on health-related quality of life.

Lim JK, Cronkite R, Goldstein MK, Cheung RC. The impact of chronic hepatitis C and comorbid psychiatric illnesses on health-related quality of life. Journal of clinical gastroenterology. 2006 Jul 1; 40(6):528-34.

Dimensions for VA is a web-based tool available to VA staff that enables detailed searches of published research and research projects.

If you have VA-Intranet access, click here for more information vaww.hsrd.research.va.gov/dimensions/

VA staff not currently on the VA network can access Dimensions by registering for an account using their VA email address.    Search Dimensions for VA for this citation
* Don't have VA-internal network access or a VA email address? Try searching the free-to-the-public version of Dimensions


Abstract:

GOALS: To determine the relative impact of chronic hepatitis C (CHC) and comorbid psychiatric illness on the health-related quality of life (HRQoL). BACKGROUND: Psychiatric conditions are more common among patients with CHC but their relative influence on HRQoL is not well understood. STUDY: We identified 864 veterans who had previously completed a veteran-specific HRQoL questionnaire (SF-36V) as part of the 1999 VA Large Health Survey with known HCV antibody (anti-HCV) status before the survey. For 201 anti-HCV(+) and 663 anti-HCV(-) patients, we compared the HRQoL status and the prevalence of 6 major psychiatric diagnoses. We conducted multiple regression analyses to measure the effect of anti-HCV status and psychiatric comorbidity. RESULTS: Compared with the anti-HCV(-) group, anti-HCV(+) veterans were more likely to have alcohol dependence (P < 0.001), depression (P = 0.01), or posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (P < 0.004). The anti-HCV(+) group also reported lower HRQoL on 4 of the 8 SF-36V subscales (P < 0.01) and the mental component summary scale (P < 0.001). Even after adjusting for demographic variables and comorbid psychiatric illness, anti-HCV(+) patients reported a significantly lower mental component summary score (P < 0.01) than did anti-HCV(-) patients. Multiple regression analysis found that depression and PTSD predicted lower HRQoL scores for all 8 HRQoL subscales (P < 0.01) and both the physical (P < 0.001) and mental component (P < 0.03) summary scales independent of anti-HCV status. CONCLUSIONS: The HRQoL is significantly impaired in veterans with CHC, particularly the mental health components of HRQoL. In contrast, comorbid depression and PTSD are associated with both lower physical and mental components of HRQol, independent of CHC.




Questions about the HSR website? Email the Web Team

Any health information on this website is strictly for informational purposes and is not intended as medical advice. It should not be used to diagnose or treat any condition.