PREVALENCE OF DEPRESSION;

HEPATITIS C DURING TREATMENT WITH COMBINATION OF PEGYLATED INTERFERON AND RIBAVIRIN IN OUR POPULATION.

Abstract

With recent availability of Sofosbuvir, Chronic Hepatitis C treatment paradigm
has changed considerably. However for a resource constrained country like Pakistan, still the
standard treatment of Chronic Hepatitis C remains the combination of Interferons and Ribavirin.
Depression, sometimes major, is a recognized side effect of this combination. Objective: The
objective of our study was to analyze the prevalence of depression during treatment with pegylated
interferon and ribavirin in patients infected with Hepatitis C at two tertiary care hospitals Lahore.
Setting: All these patients were selected randomly from outpatient departments at Fatima
Memorial Hospital and Alshafi Hospital Lahore. Duration of study: Duration of our study was
two years and 3 months from January 2010 to April 2012. Patients and Method: We included
180 patients in our study. We confirmed the diagnosis of chronic hepatitis C in all these willingly
participated patients. All these participants were put on combination of pegylated interferon
and ribavirin. Serial follow ups were done for the assessment of development of depression
during the treatment of Hepatitis C. Results: 46.8 (26%) patients developed depression during
treatment. Depression was more common in the middle of treatment which gradually improved
near the end of treatment. Conclusion: We reached at a conclusion in our study that there is
definite correlation of depression with pegylated interferon and ribavirin therapy in hepatitis C
patients.