Study Population

The present study was carried out as a joint research project between the departments of Family Medicine and Infectious Diseases at Dicle University Faculty of Medicine Hospital, from May 15, 2015 to October 15, 2015. CAHB and IHB were defined according to the European Association for the Study of the Liver Guidelines (EASL).⁹

Inactive hepatitis B was defined as the presence of hepatitis B virus with no necrosis or inflammation in the liver, in addition to finished or limited viral replication rates HBV surface antigen (HbsAg) positivity for longer than 6 months, Hepatitis Be antigen (HBeAg) [−]/anti-HBeAg [+], Hepatitis B Virus-Deoxyribose Nükleik acid (HBV-DNA) <2000 IU/mL, permanently normal alanine transaminase [ALT] level).

Chronic active hepatitis B was defined as the presence of HBeAg(−) and HBV-DNA >2000 IU/mL, permanent or intermittent increases in ALT level.

A total of 36 IHB and 41 patients with CAHB were included in the study. Inclusion criteria for patients with hepatitis were as follows: no signs of cirrhosis or cancer, age range 18 to 70 years, and no known psychiatric disease or history of treatment with psychiatric drugs.

In our study, the patient group with CAHB was classified as HBeAg-negative CHB according to EASL 2012 Clinical Practice Guidelines. The control group consisted of 53 healthy individuals with no complaints of symptoms.

Once diagnosed, our patients were enrolled into the study. Testing of psychiatric scales was not performed within certain periods. They were not receiving any antiretroviral drugs and treatment related to their clinical conditions during enrolment. No additional organ damage was developed during their follow-up. Our control group consisted of healthy volunteers without any disorder manifesting who acknowledged psychiatric self-rating scales.

Before the patient and control groups selection, 22 patients were excluded because of known psychiatric disease and a history of recent psychiatric drug treatment (both psychiatric disease and treatment with psychiatric drugs were revealed through psychiatric consultation) or refusal to consent to participation in the study. No human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or hepatitis C virus infection was detected.

Before responding to questionnaires, subjects received information on the aim, design, and possible scientific contributions of the present study, and were informed of their rights. We used the personal interview technique to collect study data via questionnaires, which included the SSAS, SDS, and HADS. A descriptive characteristics form was included with the questionnaires to provide information on participants’ age, sex, marital status, and educational background, and also on characteristics related to hepatitis. The study was approved by the “Noninterventional Clinical Researches Ethics Committee” on May 14, 2015 (approval number #295).