NEURO-PSYCHOLOGICAL AND PHYSICAL SIDE EFFECTS OF HCV TREATMENT AND HEALTH RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE AMONG PATIENTS WITH HCV INFECTION

Abstract

There are multiple factors associated with the negative impact of hepatitis C treatment on the quality of life of patients. This cross-sectional study was conducted to investigate the difference in level of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among four groups of patients receiving treatment for hepatitis C infection. Study was conducted on sample of 100 patients with age range 18-60, diagnosed with HCV and divided into four equal groups, each group containing 25 patients (n=25) with HCV receiving particular treatment. Group I was receiving conventional interferon injection (n=25), Group II was receiving pegylated interferon injections (n=25), while Group III was taking the oral antiviral plus interferon injections (n=25), and Group IV was under the treatment of oral antiviral alone (n=25). Urdu version of WHO health related quality of life-BREF questionnaire (WHOQOL-BREF) (Khan et al., 2003) and Scale for Neuro-Psychological and Physiological Side Effects of Interferon Therapy (NPPSI) (Hassan et al., 2019) were used for data collection. One-way ANOVA and correlation analysis were employed for the inferential analysis of data. Results revealed that patients receiving oral antiviral treatment without interferon injections showed statistically significant improvement in all four domains of WHOQOL-BREF when compared with the patients on interferon injections. HCV has a profound detrimental impact on both physical and mental health of the individual. So, widespread actions are pivitol for the prevention, control and treatment of the problem.