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Living with Hepatitis C: Qualitative Interviews with Hepatitis C-infected Veterans

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Abstract

Background

Chronic hepatitis C (HCV) infection affects millions of people in the USA and prevalence rates are higher in US veterans. The consequences of HCV infection include reduced quality of life, liver damage, and reduced longevity.

Objective

Our objective was to describe the experiences of US veterans living with chronic HCV infection and use this information in the development of an HCV self-management intervention.

Methods

Twenty-two male HCV-infected veterans completed qualitative interviews. Participants were recruited via flyers and hepatitis C clinic providers at a major VA medical center. Participants were asked about their medical history, being diagnosed with HCV, and general experiences living with HCV.

Results

The study gathered the following findings: the impact of HCV on interpersonal relationships was pronounced, recovery from substance use disorders and getting care for HCV were connected, receiving the HCV diagnosis was more troubling to non-IV drug users, participants had misconceptions about HCV and its treatment, psychological problems were prevalent as were barriers to participating in antiviral treatment and HCV care in general.

Conclusion

The themes derived from our analysis indicate that affected veterans may benefit from interventions or support to improve HCV-related health education, social/relationship issues, psychological issues, and exploration of the connection between substance use recovery and motivation to get care for HCV infection.

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Acknowledgments

Dr. Groessl’s work on this study was funded by a VA HSR&D Merit Review Entry Program Award #03–327 and VA HSRD IIR # IAC 05–067.

Conflict of Interest

None disclosed.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Health Services Research and Development, VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA, USA

    Erik J. Groessl, Kimberly R. Weingart & Samuel B. Ho

  2. University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA

    Erik J. Groessl & Samuel B. Ho

  3. School of Public Health, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Robert M. Kaplan

  4. Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA

    Jack A. Clark & Allen L. Gifford

  5. Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans Hospital, Bedford, MA, USA

    Jack A. Clark & Allen L. Gifford

Authors
  1. Erik J. Groessl
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  2. Kimberly R. Weingart
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  3. Robert M. Kaplan
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  4. Jack A. Clark
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  5. Allen L. Gifford
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  6. Samuel B. Ho
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Erik J. Groessl.

Appendix A – Qualitative Interview Questions

Appendix A – Qualitative Interview Questions

What other medical problems do you have besides hepatitis C?

When do you think you were first diagnosed with hepatitis C?

Do you know how you contracted or got HCV? Can you share that with us?

What was your psychological or emotional reaction to being diagnosed with hepatitis C? If they don’t seem to respond, rephrase as “When you heard you had hepatitis C, how did you respond? How did it make you feel? What kinds of questions did you have? What concerns did you have?

Overall, how has having hepatitis C impacted your life? How about on a day to day basis? are there problems/concerns/challenges that you have now that you didn’t have before you knew about the hepatitis C?

How does it affect your health, or change things medically?

How does it affect other, non-medical parts of your life (like how you relate to others, to your family, things you do/don’t do?

What symptoms have you experienced from your hepatitis C? Are there symptoms you have that might be from hepatitis C or hepatitis C treatments, but you’re not sure? Tell me about them. What kinds of things do you do to try to handle your symptoms when you get them?

How has your daily functioning changed since you got hepatitis C? Is it more limited? In what ways?

How has having hepatitis C impacted the lives of your family or friends? Do they know about it? What are their attitudes about it? Have any of them been tested for hepatitis C? Has hepatitis C changed the ways they act with you or you act with them?

What kind of things do you do yourself to help manage your hepatitis C?

Do you think patients should take an active role in helping manage their hepatitis C? What kind of things should an “expert patient do?

What does “patient self-management” mean to you? What kind of things should be included in a self-management program designed to help patients with chronic HCV?

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Groessl, E.J., Weingart, K.R., Kaplan, R.M. et al. Living with Hepatitis C: Qualitative Interviews with Hepatitis C-infected Veterans. J GEN INTERN MED 23, 1959–1965 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-008-0790-y

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