title: Implications of hepatitis C virus infection for behavioral symptoms and activities of daily living.
abstract: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is neurovirulent and has been shown to be associated with neuropsychological (NP) deficits in a subset of infected individuals. Despite these previous findings, little work has been done to examine neurobehavioral symptoms associated with HCV infection. We examined 34 HCV seropositive (HCV+) individuals and 35 healthy comparison participants (HCV-) with the self-rating form of the Frontal Systems Behavior Scale (FrSBe). Results showed that at the group level, only the FrSBe apathy subscale mean was clinically elevated (T score >65) among HCV+ persons; executive dysfunction, disinhibition, and total subscale means were not clinically elevated. At the individual level, a significantly higher proportion of HCV+ individuals than of HCV- individuals reported clinically elevated FrSBe T scores . Moreover, HCV+ individuals were nearly 3 times as likely to report clinically elevated FrSBe T scores of apathy, executive dysfunction, and disinhibition as compared to HCV- participants. A multiple regression that included substance use disorders, neuropsychological impairment, and age indicated that HCV status was an independent predictor of self-reported FrSBe total T scores. Across all participants, small, yet significant, correlations were found between elevated self-reported FrsBe T scores and dependence in activities of daily living. These results show that a subset of HCV-infected individuals report clinically elevated behavioral symptoms. Clinical implications for the assessment and management of elevated behavioral symptoms in HCV are discussed.
authors.affiliation: San Diego State University/University of California, San Diego Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, San Diego, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Carolina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Posada
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Moore
authors.forename: Steven Paul
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Woods
authors.forename: Ofilio
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Vigil
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ake
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Perry
authors.forename: Tarek I
authors.initials: TI
authors.lastname: Hassanein
authors.forename: Scott L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Letendre
authors.forename: Igor
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Grant
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000523:psychology*; D000328:Adult; D001526:Behavioral Symptoms / Q000209:etiology* / Q000821:virology*; D005260:Female; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric