Socioeconomic Vulnerability to Depressive Symptoms in Patients with Chronic Hepatitis B

Thuc Thi Minh Vu, Thieu Van Le, Anh Kim Dang, Long Hoang Nguyen, Binh Cong Nguyen, Bach Xuan Tran, Carl A. Latkin, Cyrus S. H. Ho and Roger C. M. Ho
Additional contact information
Thuc Thi Minh Vu: Hanoi Medical University, Hanoi 100000, Vietnam
Thieu Van Le: Viet-Tiep Friendship Hospital, Hai Phong 180000, Vietnam
Anh Kim Dang: Institute for Global Health Innovations, Duy Tan University, Da Nang 550000, Vietnam
Long Hoang Nguyen: Center of Excellence in Behavioral Medicine, Nguyen Tat Thanh University, Ho Chi Minh City 700000, Vietnam
Binh Cong Nguyen: Viet-Tiep Friendship Hospital, Hai Phong 180000, Vietnam
Bach Xuan Tran: Institute for Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Hanoi Medical University, Hanoi 100000, Vietnam
Carl A. Latkin: Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
Cyrus S. H. Ho: Department of Psychological Medicine, National University Hospital, Singapore 119074, Singapore
Roger C. M. Ho: Center of Excellence in Behavioral Medicine, Nguyen Tat Thanh University, Ho Chi Minh City 700000, Vietnam

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 2, 1-10

Abstract: Depression is considered one of the most prevalent psychiatric disorders among patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related liver disease and has adverse effects on the disease progression. However, there is a scarcity of studies contributing to the assessement of depression in hepatitis B patients. There is also little research into risk factors, particularly underlying socio-economic factors in Vietnam where the prevalence of hepatitis B is high. This study aimed to examine depression and identify whether differences in socio-economic status is related to the level of depression amongst chronic hepatitis B patients. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 298 patients with chronic hepatitis B at The Chronic Hepatitis Clinic in the Viet-Tiep Hospital, Hai Phong, Vietnam. The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and EuroQol-5 dimensions-5 levels (EQ-5D-5L) were used to assess the severity of depression and health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Of chronic hepatitis B patients, 37.5% experienced depressive symptoms and most of them suffered minimal depressive symptoms (31.4%). According to the result of the multivariate logistic regression model, we found that higher age, lower income level, unemployement, living with spouse/partners were positively associated with having depression. Furthermore, having physical health problems and lower health-related quality of life were also related to a higher risk of depression. We recommend family support, financial support and active participation in consultation should be conducted during treatment to improve the quality of life and the emotional state of HBV patients.

Keywords: socioeconomic; inequality; depressive symptoms; chronic hepatitis B; Vietnam (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/2/255/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/2/255/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:2:p:255-:d:198507

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().