Fatigue and psychological disorders in chronic hepatitis C

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Most patients with chronic hepatitis C report that they suffer from fatigue. The aim of this study was to determine if the symptom of fatigue can be a guide to indicate disease activity in chronic hepatitis C, or if it is related to psychological factors. METHODS: 115 chronic hepatitis C patients attending a liver clinic at Wollongong Hospital, Wollongong, Australia, were asked to fill out a questionnaire on the functional impact of their fatigue, and a questionnaire on psychological parameters. These were correlated with a history of intravenous drug use, alcohol history, transaminase levels and liver biopsy findings. RESULTS: Fatigue weakly correlated with the level of fibrosis on the liver biopsy, but strongly correlated with all the psychological domains of depression, anxiety, somatization, interpersonal sensitivity and hostility. CONCLUSION: The level of fatigue strongly correlated with all the psychological domains, particularly depression, and not with our measures of disease activity.