Prevalence of Major Depression and Its Associations With Demographic and Clinical Characteristics and Quality of Life in Chinese Patients With HBV-related Liver Diseases.

BACKGROUND: There are no data about the frequency of major depression in patients with liver disease related to Hepatitis B virus (HBV) in China. This study examined the prevalence of major depression and its clinical correlates and association with quality of life (QOL) in patients with HBV-related liver diseases.

METHOD: Altogether 634 patients with HBV-related liver diseases met study entry criteria and completed the survey. The diagnosis of major depression was established with the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI). Socio-demographic and clinical characteristics, Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) and QOL were measured.

RESULTS: The prevalence of major depression was 6.4%. Multivariable logistic regression analyses revealed that insomnia (P=0.01, OR=5.5, 95%CI=1.4-21.6) and global functioning (P<0.001, OR=0.6, 95% CI=0.5-0.7) were independently associated with major depression. Major depression was associated with both poor physical (F (1, 634) =4.0, P=0.04) and mental QOL (F (1, 634) =26.2, P<0.001).

CONCLUSIONS: Given the negative impact of depression on patients' QOL, more attempts should be made to identify and treat it in HBV-related diseases.