Prevalence of hepatitis C in patients with non-affective psychotic disorders.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: the goal of this study was to determine the prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in patients with non-affective psychotic disorders and to compare it with population-based data. MATERIAL AND METHODS: an observational study was performed that measured anti-HCV antibodies (HCV-RNA in case of seropositivity) in 425 serum samples from patients with non-affective psychosis. Eight patients were positive for anti-HCV (1.9 %) and five had detectable HCV-RNA (1.2 %). The prevalence of viremia was significantly higher than in the general population (OR 5.4; 95 % CI 1.9-14.6). CONCLUSIONS: patients with non-affective psychotic disorder have a higher prevalence of active infection than that of the general population and should undergo systematic screening.