Evaluation of mental health and anxiety level among hepatitis C patients during COVID-19 pandemic in Pakistan

Abstract

Background This study was conducted to check anxiety level and mental stress in the 200 confirmed hepatitis C patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Chinese version of the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) score index was used to measure the anxiety level of HCV-positive patients. BAI score index of different demographic factors such as gender, age, occupation, and education of all the sampled population was calculated. Results The highest BAI score was recorded in people in the age group of 25–45 years (54.5%). Respondents from public sector employees, own businesses, and postgraduates were highly anxious. A significant difference in BAI score was also recorded between male and female respondents as 33.77% of females were at a severe level of anxiety compared to 17.07% of males. Furthermore, quarantined hepatitis C patients had a significantly higher BAI score (39.5) as compared to non-quarantined patients (27.12), and respondents with HCV infection also had a high BAI score of 37.25 compared to healthy individuals (4.1). Most of the respondents were willing to adopt protective measures against COVID-19. Conclusion This study concluded that people with infectious diseases like hepatitis C had high anxiety levels and mental stress in the COVID-19 pandemic and needed psychological aids for better mental health to handle pandemic conditions.

Association Between Fear of COVID-19 and Emotional Distress in Nurses With Mediating Role of Socio-Demographic Features

“…A study conducted among Pakistani medical workers has found that the fear of COVID-19 causes a high level of anxiety among medical personnel and patients with hepatitis. This study shows that the promotion of stable mental health plays an important role in boosting the immune system, and further demands the need for positive steps to be taken to reduce such epidemics and anxiety among medical workers (Rafique et al, 2021).…”

Psychoeducational interventions for people living with chronic communicable disease: a systematic review

“…57 Psychological distress is also often observed in people living with chronic HCV, the diagnosis of which can be a major stressful event resulting in significant psychological and emotional burden, even in the absence of significant liver disease. 58 Other factors such as the negative social impact of living with HCV and viewing HCV as a ‘deadly disease’ further contribute to this distress, while a recent study from Rafique et al 59 concluded that PLHCV experienced increased anxiety and stress during the COVID-19 pandemic. Research also suggests stigma associated with genital herpes infection contributes to the adverse psychological consequences that stem from this otherwise relatively medically innocuous viral infection, and psychological distress has even been prospectively linked to recurrence frequency in genital herpes.…”