An Exploration of Depressive Symptoms in Hepatitis C Patients Taking Interferon-alpha: Increase in Sickness Behaviors but not Negative Cognitions

摘要

ObjectiveThe most investigated adverse event associated with interferon-alpha (IFN-α) treatment is depressed mood, with many studies finding a significant increase in depression scale scores from baseline to treatment. This paper is concerned with exploring discrete categories of depressive symptoms (somatic, behavioral, negative cognitions and depressed mood) in order to explore the behavioral syndrome associated with IFN-α.