Depression In Chronic Hepatitis C Patients And Role Of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy In Its Treatment

Chronic Hepatitis C is a major health problem in Egypt. The current standard treatment for CHC consists of pegylated interferon (IFN) alfa in combination with oral ribavirin. However, IFN treatment is associated with a number of adverse effects such as irritability, insomnia, fatigue, and loss of appetite. Moreover, psychopathological symptoms, especially depression (including suicidal ideation an suicide attempts in some cases), are among the most commonly reported adverse effects and may lead to therapy discontinuation, and, respectively, the additional use of antidepressant or other psychopharmacological drugs. The use of antidepressants to treat IFN induced depression is complicated by the fact that some antidepressants carry risk of hepatotoxicity. In addition, antidepressants may impair HCV virus clearance. Furthermore, patients of CHC are at increased risk of some antidepressants adverse effects.The aim of the work is to study prevalence and risk factor of depressive disorder in chronic hepatitis C patients, and to test the hypothesis that cognitive behavioral therapy is an effective therapeutic option for treatment of depressive disorders in this patient population.The study included 100 patients diagnosed with CHC, divided into two groups: a group of 50 patient not undergoing IFN treatment, and another group of 50 patients receiving pegIFNα and ribavirin.