Death rates and causes of death in cohorts of serum hepatitis patients followed up for more than 20 years

Drug addiction in hepatitis C patients leads to a lower quality of life

The subjective health status of hepatitis C patients has been relatively poorly studied. By using the Short Form 36 (SF-36), health-related quality of life (HRQOL) was assessed in a group of 42 hepatitis C patients. In all nine scales examined, the scores were generally low, and present drug use and being single were associated with especially large reductions in HRQOL. Compared with the Norwegian norms, scores were lower across all nine scales and significantly lower in eight. The study showed that the hepatitis C patients had definite reductions in HRQOL, but the impairment could not be fully explained by their hepatitis. Different non-viral factors such as drug use and marital status significantly influenced the results. This underlines the importance of taking other factors into account when studying the health status of hepatitis C patients.

Risk factors for drug addiction and its outcome. A follow-up study over 25 years

The aim of the study was to investigate factors related to initiation and abandonment of illegal drugs. A follow-up study on 53 drug addicts originally hospitalized because of parenterally acquired hepatitis was performed using questionnaires. The majority stated that curiosity and peer pressure were the main reasons for starting drug use. Family conflicts, school and mental problems were each reported by about 40% of the subjects. Thirty-nine patients (74%) had abandoned addictive drugs during the approximately 25 years that had elapsed since the hospital stay. All of these thought that own efforts had been most important in this achievement. Other important factors were help and support from family and friends, establishing a family or experiencing acute hepatitis or an overdose.

Hepatitis B virus infection in drug addicts: no acute fatalities, no chronicity and could have benefits

In a group of 159 drug addicts with acute hepatitis B in the 1970s there were no fatalities. During an observation period of about 25 years, 51 of the 159 died of various causes, but no deaths could be attributed to the hepatitis B infection. From 1998 to 2001, a follow-up examination of 53 of the 108 patients still alive, none of the 53 had a chronic hepatitis B virus infection. Fifteen out of thirty-five patients who had completely stopped using narcotics claimed that hospitalisation for acute hepatitis B had been an important factor in their decision to quit drugs.