Health Psychology Research / HPR / Volume 8 / Issue 3 / DOI: 10.4081/​hpr.2020.9450
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GENERAL

Improvement of health-related quality of life and psychological well-being  after HCV eradication with direct-acting antiviral agents. Real life setting  data of an Italian cohort valued by Hepatitis Quality of Life Questionnaire  (HQLQv2)

Gaetano Bertino1 ,  Rosalia Ragusa2 ,  Liberato Simone Corsaro3 ,  Evelise Frazzetto1 ,  Vincenzo Messina4 ,  Lucio Inguscio5* ,  Carlo Lai5 ,  Marilena Maglia6 ,  Andrea Nunnari7 ,  Pasquale Caponnetto6
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1 Hepatology Unit, Policlinic "G. Rodolico", Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Catania
2 Health Technology Assessment Committee, University Hospital "G. Rodolico", Catania
3 Biologist, Master of Science in Clinical Trial Governance, University of Catania
4 Infectious Disease Unit, Azienda Ospedaliera “S. Anna e S. Sebastiano” of Caserta
5 Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology, University of Rome La Sapienza, Rome
6 Center of Excellence for the Acceleration of Harm Reduction (CoEHAR), Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Catania
7 School of Medicine, Course of Rehabilitation Science for Health Professions, Università di Catania, Italy
HPR 2020 , 8(3), 1; https://doi.org/10.4081/​hpr.2020.9450
Submitted: 3 November 2020 | Revised: 5 December 2020 | Accepted: 5 December 2020 | Published: 30 December 2020
© 2020 by the Author(s). Licensee Health Psychology Research, USA. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution -Noncommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0) ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ )
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Abstract

HCV (Hepatitis C Virus) decreases Health-Related Quality of Life with detriments to physical, mental and social health domains. Interferon and Ribavirin treatment is associated with depression and anxiety that further impairs HRQoL (Health Related Quality of Life). IFN-free (interferon-free) regimes (Direct Acting Antivirals, DAAs) are safe and highly effective drugs, with improvement also of HRQoL and related Psychological Well-Being. Our aim is to describe how the latest generation IFN-free treatment can change quality of life and relat ed Psychological Well-Being in Italian Chronic Hepatitis C/Cirrhosis affected patients. SF-36v2 (Short Form Health Survey is a 36-item, patient-reported survey of patient health) – HQLQv2 (Hepatitis Quality of Life Questionnaire) was administered at two time points: baseline (n=72) and 12 weeks after the end of therapy [n=72, SVR=72 - Sustained Virologic Response (SVR)]. Patients with chronic HCV undergoing DAAs treatment from two Italian centers were enrolled. The overall average of the answers is con figured for most of the domains that make up the questionnaire, with scores above 50. The quality of life of this sample is very close to the average of the US population, with a minimum aver age score of 45.9 for the Role Emotional scale and an average maximum score of 56.4 for the Vitality scale. Both are significant results from statistical analysis. It seems that DAAs treatment therapy does not affect but improves the general quality and psy chological state of adult patients with Chronic HCV infection.

Keywords
Health care; health psychology; QoL; phycological well being; illness perception; chronic illness
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Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
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