title: When do psychiatric side effects emerge during antiviral treatment of hepatitis C?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This retrospective study aimed to determine the time-frame regarding the first appearance of psychiatric side effects in the course of antiviral treatment and the subsequent referral to consultation-liaison psychiatric services.
  
  
  METHODS
  Medical records of patients receiving combined antiviral treatment with alpha interferon and ribavirin for hepatitis C at a hepatology outpatient clinic and referred to psychiatric consultation between April 2000 and July 2011 were scrutinized.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Time between the initiation of antiviral treatment and the first appearance of psychiatric symptoms was 10.64±10.68 weeks. Patients were referred to psychiatric examination 16.1±12.7 weeks after antiviral treatment had been commenced. The time frame of the emergence of psychiatric symptoms and the referral for psychiatric consultation did not correlate with the patients' age or sex. No relationship between substance/alcohol abuse and psychiatric history and the timing of psychiatric side effects and their assessment were found.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study confirmed that psychiatric side effects appear late in the course of combined antiviral treatment arising after 10.64±10.68 weeks the treatment started. The results also showed that some patients' psychiatric symptoms appeared immediately after the beginning of the antiviral therapy. This finding underlines the importance of monitoring patients' psychiatric condition as soon as antiviral treatment commences.
authors.affiliation: Center for Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine, Szent István and Szent László Hospital, Gyali ut 5-7, 1097 Budapest, Hungary, gazdag@lamb.hu.
authors.forename: Gábor
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gazdag
authors.forename: Gergely
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Horváth
authors.forename: Olga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Szabó
authors.forename: Rozália
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Takács
authors.forename: Gabor S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Ungvari
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000009:adverse effects; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012254:Ribavirin / Q000009:adverse effects; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D016898:Interferon-alpha; D012254:Ribavirin