title: Hepatitis C virus infection as a traumatic experience.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether individuals consider their HCV infection to be a potentially traumatic experience. Additionally, we investigated its association with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and the impact of PTSD diagnosis on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in HCV infected subjects.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a cross-sectional survey of 127 HCV-infected outpatients recruited at a University Hospital in Salvador, Brazil. All subjects answered an orally-administered questionnaire to gather clinical and socio-demographic data. We investigated traumatic experiences and the subject's perception of the disease using the Trauma History Questionnaire. PTSD and other psychiatric diagnoses were assessed through the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview-Brazilian Version 5.0.0 (M.I.N.I. PLUS). HRQoL was assessed using Short-Form 36 (SF-36).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Approximately 38.6% of the patients considered hepatitis C to be a traumatic experience. Of these, 60.7% had a PTSD diagnosis. PTSD was associated with significant impairment in quality of life for individuals in seven SF-36 domains as shown bymultivariate analysis: Role-Physical (β: -24.85; 95% CI: -42.08; -7.61), Bodily Pain (β: -19.36; 95% CI: -31.28; -7.45), General Health (β: -20.79; 95% CI: -29.65; -11.92), Vitality (β: -11.92; 95% CI: -20.74; -3.1), Social Functioning (β: -34.73; 95% CI: -46.79; -22.68), Role-Emotional (β: -26.07; 95% CI: -44.61; -7.53), Mental Health (β: -17.46; 95% CI: -24.38; -10.54).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  HCV is frequently a traumatic experience and it is strongly associated with PTSD diagnosis. PTSD significantly impaired HRQoL.
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-graduação em Medicina e Saúde, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador, BA, Brazil.
authors.forename: Mychelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Morais-de-Jesus
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador, BA, Brazil.
authors.forename: Renato
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Daltro-Oliveira
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-graduação em Medicina e Saúde, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador, BA, Brazil.
authors.forename: Karine Miranda
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Pettersen
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-graduação em Medicina e Saúde, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador, BA, Brazil.
authors.forename: Adriana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dantas-Duarte
authors.affiliation: Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Luciana Di-Domizio
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Amaral
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-graduação em Medicina e Saúde, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador, BA, Brazil.
authors.forename: Patrícia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cavalcanti-Ribeiro
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Ciências Exatas, Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana, Feira de Santana, BA, Brazil; Instituto de Saúde Coletiva, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador, BA, Brazil.
authors.forename: Carlos Teles
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-graduação em Medicina e Saúde, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador, BA, Brazil.
authors.forename: Maria Isabel
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Schinoni
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-graduação em Medicina e Saúde, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador, BA, Brazil.
authors.forename: Liana R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Netto
authors.affiliation: Hospital Universitário e Departamento de Neurociências e Saúde Mental da Faculdade de Medicina da Bahia, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador, BA, Brazil.
authors.forename: Lucas
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Araújo-de-Freitas
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-graduação em Medicina e Saúde, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador, BA, Brazil; Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador, BA, Brazil.
authors.forename: Raymundo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Paraná
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-graduação em Medicina e Saúde, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador, BA, Brazil; Hospital Universitário e Departamento de Neurociências e Saúde Mental da Faculdade de Medicina da Bahia, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador, BA, Brazil.
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Miranda-Scippa
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health - Columbia University, New York, New York, United States of America.
authors.forename: Karestan C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Koenen
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-graduação em Medicina e Saúde, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador, BA, Brazil; Hospital Universitário e Departamento de Neurociências e Saúde Mental da Faculdade de Medicina da Bahia, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador, BA, Brazil.
authors.forename: Lucas C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Quarantini
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001938:Brazil; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000502:physiology*; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011788:Quality of Life; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000523:psychology; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult