Mode of transmission, rather than the hepatitis C virus, as a major determinant of poor interpersona

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CANADIAN JOURNAL OF GASTROENTEROLOGY

Original Articles December 2007, Volume 21 Issue 12: 815-819

Mode of transmission, rather than the hepatitis C virus, as a major determinant

of poor interpersonal relationships in patients with chronic hepatitis C

TP La, M Deschênes

BACKGROUND: Recent studies have demonstrated that patients with the hepatitis C

virus (HCV) have significant neurocognitive impairment.

OBJECTIVE: To assess whether chronic HCV infection impacts on patient marital

status, living arrangement and employment.

METHODS: The charts of patients with chronic hepatitis C and hepatitis B were

reviewed.

RESULTS: The mean (± SD) age of the 129 patients with the hepatitis B virus

(HBV) was 46±15 years and that of the 428 patients with HCV was 48±15 years.

Sixty-seven per cent of HBV patients were men, compared with 68% of HCV

patients. Eighty per cent of HCV patients were Caucasian, compared with 44% of

patients with HBV. The main modes of transmission were intravenous drug use

(37%) and transfusion of blood products (37%) for HCV, compared with country of

origin (76%) for HBV. There were no differences in marital status rates between

HBV- and HCV-infected patients (HBV - married (73%), single (21%) and divorced

(6%); and HCV - married (66%), single (23%) and divorced (10%); P=0.20). HCV

patients lived alone more often than HBV patients (HBV - 13%, HCV - 22%;

P=0.03). There was no difference in overall employment rate between HCV and HBV

patients (81% versus 87%; P=0.15). Though there may not have been overall

differences between HCV and HBV marital status and employment status, there were

differences in the HCV subgroups. These subgroup differences were discovered in

the multivariate analysis; mode of transmission was identified as the only

predictor of the patients' marital status and employment status.

CONCLUSIONS: The most important determinant of interpersonal relationships was

the mode of transmission of the viral hepatitis rather than the type of viral

infection: past intravenous drug users had lower level relationships.

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