Major Depression with Interferon-Alfa Treatment for Hepatitis C: Long-Term Implications

Patients developing major depression with this treatment are at significantly increased risk for recurrent depression.

Up to 30% of patients receiving interferon-alfa for the treatment of hepatitis C infections develop major depression, and initiating treatment with antidepressant medications has become commonplace before giving the drug to patients with known histories of depression. To further examine the associations among hepatitis C, interferon-alfa–induced major depression disorder (IɑID), and recurrent depression, investigators examined 12 years of data from the Taiwanese national insurance registry.

The study involved adults with hepatitis C and no depression in the year before receiving interferon-alfa. Study groups were 156 individuals with IɑID who achieved full remission from depression and 21,452 who did not become depressed with treatment.

Over …

Reviewing Author

Joel Yager, MD

Disclosures

Editorial BoardsInternational Journal of Eating Disorders; UpToDate; FOCUS: The Journal of Lifelong Learning in Psychiatry; American Journal of Psychotherapy

Joel Yager, MD

Disclosures

Editorial BoardsInternational Journal of Eating Disorders; UpToDate; FOCUS: The Journal of Lifelong Learning in Psychiatry; American Journal of Psychotherapy

Major Depression with Interferon-Alfa Treatment for Hepatitis C: Long-Term Implications

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Reviewing Author