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J Clin Exp Hepatol. 2012 Sep;2(3):218-23. doi: 10.1016/j.jceh.2012.03.001. Epub 2012 Sep 21.

An Exploration of Depressive Symptoms in Hepatitis C Patients Taking Interferon-alpha: Increase in Sickness Behaviors but not Negative Cognitions.

Journal of clinical and experimental hepatology

Kimberley J Smith, Suzanne Norris, Susan McKiernan, Barbara Hynes, Anne M O'Dwyer, Shane M O'Mara

Affiliations

  1. Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland ; Douglas Mental Health University Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
  2. Hepatology Centre, St. James's Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.
  3. Psychological Medicine Service, St James's Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.
  4. Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.

PMID: 25755437 PMCID: PMC3940096 DOI: 10.1016/j.jceh.2012.03.001

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: The most investigated adverse event associated with interferon-alpha (IFN-α) treatment is depressed mood, with many studies finding a significant increase in depression scale scores from baseline to treatment. This paper is concerned with exploring discrete categories of depressive symptoms (somatic, behavioral, negative cognitions and depressed mood) in order to explore the behavioral syndrome associated with IFN-α.

METHODS: Thirty-five Hepatitis C patients due to commence IFN-α treatment were assessed using the Structured Clinical Interview (SCID), and the 24-item Hamilton Depression Inventory (HAM-D) at 0 and 8 weeks.

RESULTS: Somatic symptoms comprised the significant majority of scores across all weeks for patients taking IFN-α. Patients who developed a depression had significantly more somatic and mood symptoms at Week 8 than those patients who did not develop a depression.

CONCLUSIONS: These exploratory results indicate that the increase in raw depression scores is due to an increase in somatic and mood symptoms, rather than negative cognitions. However, this increase does not correspond to a proportional increase in a particular subscale. These results also indicate that development of an IFN-α-induced depression is due to mood symptoms rather than negative cognitions.

Keywords: HAM-D, Hamilton depression inventory; HCV, Hepatitis C virus; Hepatitis C; IFN-α, Interferon-alpha; MDD, Major depressive disorder; PAEs, Psychiatric adverse events; PEG, pegylated; SCID, Structured clinical interview; SCID, statistical manual for psychiatric disorders; depression; interferon-alpha; sickness behavior

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