High frequency of unrecognized mental disorders in HCV-infected patients

Abstract Objective This study indexed the frequency of psychiatric disorders among hepatitis C virus (HCV)-infected patients. Method HCV-infected patients treated at a university hospital in the northeastern region of Brazil were evaluated in a cross-sectional study using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview. Results Ninety HCV-infected outpatients were included in the study and 44 (49%) had at least one psychiatric diagnosis. Among the 26 patients (59.1%) with a current psychiatric morbidity, 22 (84.6%) had gone undiagnosed. Conclusions HCV-infected patients have a high frequency of unrecognized psychiatric comorbidity.