Citation

Oser M, Cucciare MA, McKellar J, Weingardt K. J. Behav. Med. 2012; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

Department of Psychiatry, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 221 Longwood Avenue, 4th Floor, Boston, MA, 02115, USA, moser1@partners.org.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s10865-011-9394-9

PMID

22234384

Abstract

Hazardous drinking is a major barrier to antiviral treatment eligibility among hepatitis C (HCV) patients. We evaluated differences in substance-related coping, drinking-related consequences, and importance and confidence in ability to change alcohol use among hazardous drinkers with and without HCV (N = 554; 93.5% male). We examined group differences between HCV+ patients (n = 43) and their negative HCV counterparts (n = 511). Results indicate a higher percentage of HCV+ patients report using substances to cope with possible symptoms of PTSD (P < .05) and depression (P < .01), and endorse more lifetime drinking-related negative consequences than HCV patients (P < .01). Furthermore, HCV+ patients place greater importance on changing alcohol use (P < .01) but report less confidence in their ability to change (P < .01). Use of brief assessment and feedback with skills-based interventions to decrease alcohol use may be well-received by HCV+ patients.

Language: en