Interferon-Alpha Treatment in Patients with Chronic Viral Hepatitis C: The Incidence of Major Depression and Changes in Quality of Life

Objective: There are three aims of this study:- 1) to examine the incidence of interferon alpha (IFN-α) induced major depression, 2) to examine the associations between IFN-α induced major depression and clinical and sociodemographic characteristics and 3) to examine the impact of IFN-α on the quality of life in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection. Method: Thirty-six patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection were evaluated by using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV, the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS), Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HARS) and the World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale-Brief (WHOQOL-BREF) before the treatment and 8 weeks after interferon alpha treatment. Results: Major depression developed in 10 (27.8%) of 36 patients during treatment with IFN-α. During the IFN-α treatment, HDRS and HARS scores significantly increased, and WHOQOL-BREF subscale scores of physical health, psychological health and environment significantly decreased. It wa