LIVING WITH HEPATITIS C; PERSONAL EXPERIENCES OF INFECTED YOUNG PATIENTS: A QUALITATIVE STUDY OF SOUTH PUNJAB, PAKISTAN
Main Article Content
Keywords
Hepatitis C, Experience, Young patients, Pakistan
Abstract
The prevalence of HCV is a major problem of concern, and the elimination of HCV as a public health
problem by 2030 has recently been set as a global target by the World Health Organization (WHO).
In the global ranking, Pakistan is second to Egypt in possessing the highest number of Hepatitis C
infections with wide-ranging financial, social, and psychological consequences. This study aims to
explore the challenges faced by young patients to gain in-depth insight into psychological, emotional,
physical, and social traumas. A phenomenological research design was used to obtain data from 12
participants following the principle of data saturation. One-on-one detailed interviews were conducted
using a purposive sampling technique. Interviews were tape-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using
the thematic analysis framework method. Illness experiences and insufficient healthcare facilities
were major themes that emerged after the thematic analysis. To deal with stressful situations,
participants reported strategies of mind diversion, self-motivation, religious practices, and lifestyle
modifications as effective tools to develop adaptability. The present study's findings are helpful for
policymakers to prevent, cure and rehabilitate the patients, their families, and the community at large.
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29. Socias, M. E., Karamouzian, M., Parent, S., Barletta, J., Bird, K. & Ti, L. 2019. Integrated models
of care for people who inject drugs and live with hepatitis C virus: a systematic review.
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30. Soltan, E. M., Salama, H. M. & Aboelmagd, M. A. 2018. Assessment of stigma among patients
infected with hepatitis C virus in Suez City, Egypt. Journal of Public Health, 26, 279-288.
31. Valerio, H., Mcauley, A., Innes, H., Palmateer, N., Goldberg, D. J., Munro, A., Taylor, A. &
Hutchinson, S. J. 2018. Determinants of hepatitis C antiviral effectiveness awareness among
people who inject drugs in the direct-acting antiviral era. International Journal of Drug Policy,
52, 115-122.
32. Viejo, L. G.-E., Herola, A. G., Lloret, I. S., Ruano, F. S., Paulino, I. C., Ivorra, C. Q., Saavedra,
I. A., Pérez, D. M. & De La Osa, J. V. 2018. Screening of hepatitis C virus infection in adult
general population in Spain. European journal of gastroenterology & hepatology, 30, 1077-1081.
33. W.H.O 2020. Hepatitis.
Hamid, S. 2021. Evaluation of Hepatitis C Virus Core Antigen Assay in a Resource-Limited
Setting in Pakistan. Diagnostics, 11, 1354.
2. Arshad, A. & Ashfaq, U. A. 2017. Epidemiology of hepatitis C infection in Pakistan: current
estimate and major risk factors. Critical Reviews™ in Eukaryotic Gene Expression, 27.
3. Barreira, D. P., Marinho, R. T., Bicho, M., Fialho, R. & Ouakinin, S. R. S. 2019. Psychosocial
and neurocognitive factors associated with hepatitis C–Implications for future health and
wellbeing. Frontiers in psychology, 9, 2666.
4. Braun, V. & Clarke, V. 2019. Reflecting on reflexive thematic analysis. Qualitative research in
sport, exercise and health, 11, 589-597.
5. Campbell, S., Greenwood, M., Prior, S., Shearer, T., Walkem, K., Young, S., Bywaters, D. &
Walker, K. 2020. Purposive sampling: complex or simple? Research case examples. Journal of
Research in Nursing, 25, 652-661.
6. Consorti, G., Marchetti, A. & De Marinis, M. G. 2020. What makes an osteopathic treatment
effective from a patient's perspective: a descriptive phenomenological study. Journal of
Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, 43, 882-890.
7. Eletreby, R., Esmat, G., Elsharkawy, A., Alsehemy, L., Mohamed, R., Alem, S. A., Yousof, H.,
Cordie, A. & Lithy, R. M. 2022. HCV/HIV coinfected Egyptian patients: a cross-sectional study
of their main characteristics and barriers to HCV treatment initiation. Transactions of The Royal
Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 116, 227-232.
8. Evon, D. M., Sarkar, S., Amador, J., Lok, A. S., Sterling, R. K., Stewart, P. W., Reeve, B. B.,
Serper, M., Reau, N. & Reddy, K. R. 2019. Patient-reported symptoms during and after directacting antiviral therapies for chronic hepatitis C: the PROP UP study. Journal of hepatology, 71,
486-497.
9. Goñi Esarte, S., Juanbeltz, R., Martinez-Baz, I., Castilla, J., San Miguel, R., Herrero, J. I. &
Zozaya, J. M. 2019. Long-term changes on health-related quality of life in patients with chronic
hepatitis C after viral clearance with direct-acting antiviral agents. Rev Esp Enferm Dig, 111, 445-
452.
10. Goutzamanis, S., Horyniak, D., Doyle, J. S., Hellard, M., Higgs, P., Treatment & Group, P. S.
2021. Perceived physical health outcomes of direct-acting antiviral treatment for hepatitis C: a
qualitative study. Harm Reduction Journal, 18, 1-6.
11. Griffin, T. 2019. A discussion of video as a data collection tool. Current Issues in Tourism, 22,
2183-2196.
12. Harrison, G. I., Murray, K., Gore, R., Lee, P., Sreedharan, A., Richardson, P., Hughes, A. J.,
Wiselka, M., Gelson, W. & Unitt, E. 2019. The hepatitis C awareness through to treatment
(HepCATT) study: improving the cascade of care for hepatitis C virus‐infected people who inject
drugs in England. Addiction, 114, 1113-1122.
13. Hassanpour Dehkordi, A., Mohammadi, N. & Nikbakhatnasrabadi, A. 2016. Hepatitis-related
stigma in chronic patients: A qualitative study. Applied Nursing Research, 29, 206-210.
14. Jagtap, J. & Kokare, M. 2016. Human age classification using facial skin aging features and
artificial neural network. Cognitive Systems Research, 40, 116-128.
15. Kronfli, N., Buxton, J. A., Jennings, L., Kouyoumdjian, F. & Wong, A. 2019. Hepatitis C virus
(HCV) care in Canadian correctional facilities: Where are we and where do we need to be?
Canadian Liver Journal, 2, 171-183.
16. Krzeczkowska, A., Flowers, P., Chouliara, Z., Hayes, P. & Dickson, A. 2021. Experiences of
diagnosis, stigma, culpability and disclosure in male patients with hepatitis C virus: An
interpretative phenomenological analysis. Health, 25, 69-85.
17. Lafferty, L., Rance, J., Grebely, J., Dore, G. J., Lloyd, A. R., Treloar, C. & Group, S.-C. S. 2020.
Perceptions and concerns of hepatitis C reinfection following prison-wide treatment scale-up:
Counterpublic health amid hepatitis C treatment as prevention efforts in the prison setting.
International Journal of Drug Policy, 77, 102693.
18. Lowe, A., Norris, A. C., Farris, A. J. & Babbage, D. R. 2018. Quantifying thematic saturation in
qualitative data analysis. Field methods, 30, 191-207.
19. Mansha, S., Imran, M., Shah, A. M. U. H., Jamal, M., Ahmed, F., Atif, M., Saleem, M., Safi, S.
Z., Fatima, Z. & Bilal Waqar, A. 2017. Hepatitis B and C virus infections among human
immunodeficiency virus-infected people who inject drugs in Lahore, Pakistan. Viral immunology,
30, 366-370.
20. Mattingly, T. J., Slejko, J. F., Perfetto, E. M., Kottilil, S. & Mullins, C. D. 2019. What matters
most for treatment decisions in hepatitis C: effectiveness, costs, and altruism. The PatientPatient-Centered Outcomes Research, 12, 631-638.
21. Mengistu, D. A., Tolera, S. T. & Demmu, Y. M. 2021. Worldwide prevalence of occupational
exposure to needle stick injury among healthcare workers: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Canadian Journal of Infectious Diseases and Medical Microbiology, 2021.
22. Nemati, A. R., Nemati, S. A., Javed, W. & Javed, T. 2021. IMPACT OF SUPERVISOR
SUPPORT AND HEPATITIS C STIGMA ON EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE WITH
MEDIATING EFFECT OF SELF EFFICACY AND PREJUDICE: EVIDENCE FROM
PAKISTAN: soi: 21-2017/re-trjvol05iss02p258. The Rehabilitation Journal, 5, 258-262.
23. Omran, D., Alboraie, M., Zayed, R. A., Wifi, M.-N., Naguib, M., Eltabbakh, M., Abdellah, M.,
Sherief, A. F., Maklad, S. & Eldemellawy, H. H. 2018. Towards hepatitis C virus elimination:
Egyptian experience, achievements and limitations. World journal of gastroenterology, 24, 4330.
24. Pedrana, A., Howell, J., Scott, N., Schroeder, S., Kuschel, C., Lazarus, J. V., Atun, R., BaptistaLeite, R., Hoen, E. T. & Hutchinson, S. J. 2020. Global hepatitis C elimination: an investment
framework. The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology, 5, 927-939.
25. Prosek, E. A. & Gibson, D. M. 2021. Promoting rigorous research by examining lived
experiences: A review of four qualitative traditions. Journal of Counseling & Development, 99,
167-177.
26. Richards, L. & Morse, J. M. 2012. Readme first for a user's guide to qualitative methods, Sage.
27. Shehata, N., Austin, T., Ha, S. & Timmerman, K. 2018. Barriers of Hep C virus screening and
testing.
28. Silva, L. D., Bering, T. & Rocha, G. A. 2017. The impact of nutrition on quality of life of patients
with hepatitis C. Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition & Metabolic Care, 20, 420-425.
29. Socias, M. E., Karamouzian, M., Parent, S., Barletta, J., Bird, K. & Ti, L. 2019. Integrated models
of care for people who inject drugs and live with hepatitis C virus: a systematic review.
International Journal of Drug Policy, 72, 146-159.
30. Soltan, E. M., Salama, H. M. & Aboelmagd, M. A. 2018. Assessment of stigma among patients
infected with hepatitis C virus in Suez City, Egypt. Journal of Public Health, 26, 279-288.
31. Valerio, H., Mcauley, A., Innes, H., Palmateer, N., Goldberg, D. J., Munro, A., Taylor, A. &
Hutchinson, S. J. 2018. Determinants of hepatitis C antiviral effectiveness awareness among
people who inject drugs in the direct-acting antiviral era. International Journal of Drug Policy,
52, 115-122.
32. Viejo, L. G.-E., Herola, A. G., Lloret, I. S., Ruano, F. S., Paulino, I. C., Ivorra, C. Q., Saavedra,
I. A., Pérez, D. M. & De La Osa, J. V. 2018. Screening of hepatitis C virus infection in adult
general population in Spain. European journal of gastroenterology & hepatology, 30, 1077-1081.
33. W.H.O 2020. Hepatitis.
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Published
Sep 16, 2023
Article Details
How to Cite
Adnan Azam, Samina Kausar, Farhan Mukhtar, Samina Farooqi, Muhammad Bilal, & Mehreen Azam. (2023). LIVING WITH HEPATITIS C; PERSONAL EXPERIENCES OF INFECTED YOUNG PATIENTS: A QUALITATIVE STUDY OF SOUTH PUNJAB, PAKISTAN. Journal of Population Therapeutics and Clinical Pharmacology, 30(17), 1586–1598. https://doi.org/10.53555/jptcp.v30i17.2779
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Author Biographies
Adnan Azam
MS Nursing Scholar, Institute of Nursing, University of Health Sciences, Lahore – Pakistan
Samina Kausar
Institute of Nursing, University of Health Sciences, Lahore – Pakistan
Farhan Mukhtar
University College of Nursing, Islamia University of Bahawalpur- Pakistan
Samina Farooqi
New Advance College of Nursing, Lahore- Pakistan
Muhammad Bilal
Bahawalpur College of Nursing, Bahawalpur- Pakistan
Mehreen Azam
The Islamia University of Bahawalpur- Pakistan