FREQUENCY OF DEPRESSION

Combine Pegylated interferon therapy and ribavirin is most commonly usedtreatment in chronic hepatitis C patients. Along with other complications, different psychiatricdisorders are observed during combination therapy including depression. Depression is themajor morbidity as it may lead to different destructive ideation including suicide among patientson treatment. We have tried to calculate the frequency of depression along with associatedfactors in our present study. Objectives: To find out the frequency of depression duringPegylated interferon therapy for chronic hepatitis C. Study Design: Descriptive study. Setting:Liaquat University of Medical & Health Sciences, Jamshoro / Hyderabad Duration: The durationof study was six months starting from 01-01-2014 to 31-06-2014. Methodology: Two hundredand fifty two cases of chronic hepatitis C on the basis of anti HCV (ELISA) and PCR positivewere selected in this study. Results: Out of 252 patients, 111 (44%) were males and 141(56%)were females. Most of the patients belonged to 26 to 50 years of age. The duration of treatmentwas 12 weeks. Two hundred & eight (82.5%) patients had ever married while the remaining17.5% were unmarried. Out of 106 (42%) depressed patients, 39 (37%) had mild, 31 (29%) hadmoderate, 20 (19%) had moderately severe and 15 (15%) had severe depression. Conclusion:It was observed that depression is a common during combination therapy with Peg interferonand the ribavirin in chronic HCV patients.