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Racial/Ethnic Minorities with Chronic Hepatitis C Virus Infection Have More Severe Fatigue Than White Patients with Chronic Hepatitis C Virus Infection
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Reported by Jules Levin
DDW
May 17-22, 2008
San Diego, CA
Sabina Berezovskaya2, Edmund J Bini1,2
1. Division of Gastroenterology, VA New York Harbor Healthcare System & NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA, 2. Medicine, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
Background: There are marked racial/ethnic differences in the prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, fibrosis progression rates, as well as response to treatment. Although fatigue is a common disabling symptom of HCV infection, it is unknown if the severity of fatigue differs according to race/ethnicity. The primary aim of this study was to determine if there are racial/ethnic disparities in the severity of fatigue among a large cohort of HCV-infected patients.
Methods: Patients with chronic HCV infection (HCV antibody and PCR positive) were enrolled from the outpatient gastroenterology, liver, and primary care clinics at two medical centers. All patients were interviewed by a trained research assistant to obtain detailed demographic and clinical information. After the interview, all subjects completed the validated Fatigue Impact Scale (FIS) to assess fatigue (score 0 - 160; higher scores = more fatigue).
Results:
A total of 1,184 subjects with chronic HCV infection were enrolled. The mean age of the patients was 49.0 ± 36.0 years, and there were 314 non-Hispanic whites, 481 non-Hispanic blacks, 269 Hispanics, and 120 that identified their race/ethnicity as "other".
The total FIS score in the 1,184 subjects with chronic HCV was 49.0 ± 36.0. The FIS score was 37.0 ± 32.1 in whites, 50.7± 36.3 in blacks, 53.7 ± 39.2 in Hispanics, and 63.0 ± 28.4 in other racial/ethnic groups (p <0.001).
Racial ethnic minorities also had more severe fatigue than whites in each of the 3 dimensions of the FIS scale (cognitive, physical, and social).
The association between race/ethnicity and severe fatigue remained highly significant even after adjusting for age and sex.
Conclusions: HCV infection is associated with severe fatigue. Racial/ethnic minorities with HCV infection report more severe fatigue than HCV-infected white patients. The reasons for these racial/ethnic disparities remain to be determined.
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