Objective@#To investigate the
incidence and related independent
risk factors of
depression in
treatment-naïve Han ethnic
Chinese patients with
chronic hepatitis C.@*
Methods@#Nine hundred and ninety-seven Han
Chinese patients with confirmed chronic HCV
infection were enrolled. Beck’s
depression inventory scale was used to assess
depression score.
Patients were divided into two groups according to the score score≥17,
depression group (16.85%, 168/997); score <17, no
depression group (83.15%, 829/997). Multivariate
logistic regression was used to analyze independent
risk factors related with the onset of
depression in
patients with
chronic hepatitis C.@*Results@#There was a statistically significant difference between the two groups in terms of
gender distribution,
marital status,
education level,
income level and
smoking status (P < 0.05). Independent
risk factors were
female [
odds ratio (OR) = 3.85; 95% CI 2.28-6.50, P = 0.001], decompensated
cirrhosis [OR = 2.31; 95% CI 1.20-4.48, P = 0.013],
unmarried [OR = 2.01; 95% CI 1.12-3.60, P = 0.019],
separated [OR = 17.39; 95% CI 1.64-184.47, P = 0.018],
divorced [OR = 3.82; 95% CI 1.36-10.74, P = 0.011], without
higher education [OR = 2.04; 95% CI 1.22-3.42, P = 0.007], low
income [OR = 3.94; 95% CI 1.38-11.28, P = 0.011], middle
income [OR = 2.96; 95% CI 1.02-8.62, P = 0.047], uninterrupted
smoking [OR = 3.67; 95% CI 2.13-6.31, P = 0.001], and previously smoked [OR = 3.33, 95% CI 1.66-6.68, P = 0.001].@*Conclusion@#The
incidence of
depression in
patients with
chronic hepatitis C is relatively high. The independent
risk factors related with
depression include
female,
unmarried,
separated, and
divorced, without
higher education, low and middle-
income level,
smoking and
disease progression to decompensated
cirrhosis, but no significant correlation between
hepatitis C virus genotypes and
viral load.