title: The impact of chronic hepatitis C on health-related quality of life in homeless and marginally housed individuals with HIV.
abstract: Although infection with Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) frequently co-exist, there has been little research to determine the effects of HIV/HCV co-infection on health-related quality of life (HRQOL). We performed a cross-sectional analysis of baseline data from 216 participants enrolled in a community based study of HIV-infected homeless and marginally housed individuals, using multivariable linear regression analysis to determine if co-infection with HCV was independently associated with lower short-form 36 (SF-36) questionnaire scores. We found that individuals with HCV had significantly lower mean SF-36 scores in the domains of physical functioning, bodily pain, social functioning and role limitation due to emotional health, and that HIV/HCV co-infection was independently associated with a lower physical component score but not a lower mental component score after controlling for numerous covariates. These results suggest that co-infection with HCV may have an adverse effect on HRQOL among homeless and marginally housed individuals with HIV.
authors.affiliation: San Francisco Veterans Administration Medical Center, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, 94121, USA. judith.tsui@va.gov
authors.forename: Judith I
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Tsui
authors.forename: David R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Bangsberg
authors.forename: Kathleen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ragland
authors.forename: Christopher S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Hall
authors.forename: Elise D
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Riley
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications*; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000502:physiology; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology; D006703:Ill-Housed Persons; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D011788:Quality of Life; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile; D019562:Viral Load