Citation

Vu TTM, Le TV, Dang AK, Nguyen LH, Nguyen BC, Tran BX, Latkin CA, Ho CSH, Ho RCM. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019; 16(2): e16020255.

Affiliation

Department of Psychological Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore 119228, Singapore. hocmroger@yahoo.com.sg.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, MDPI: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute)

DOI

10.3390/ijerph16020255

PMID

30658423

Abstract

Depression is considered one of the most prevalent psychiatric disorders among patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related liver disease and has adverse effects on the disease progression. However, there is a scarcity of studies contributing to the assessement of depression in hepatitis B patients. There is also little research into risk factors, particularly underlying socio-economic factors in Vietnam where the prevalence of hepatitis B is high. This study aimed to examine depression and identify whether differences in socio-economic status is related to the level of depression amongst chronic hepatitis B patients. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 298 patients with chronic hepatitis B at The Chronic Hepatitis Clinic in the Viet-Tiep Hospital, Hai Phong, Vietnam. The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and EuroQol-5 dimensions-5 levels (EQ-5D-5L) were used to assess the severity of depression and health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Of chronic hepatitis B patients, 37.5% experienced depressive symptoms and most of them suffered minimal depressive symptoms (31.4%). According to the result of the multivariate logistic regression model, we found that higher age, lower income level, unemployement, living with spouse/partners were positively associated with having depression. Furthermore, having physical health problems and lower health-related quality of life were also related to a higher risk of depression. We recommend family support, financial support and active participation in consultation should be conducted during treatment to improve the quality of life and the emotional state of HBV patients.

Language: en

Keywords

Vietnam; chronic hepatitis B; depressive symptoms; inequality; socioeconomic