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Acceptability of Psychotherapy, Pharmacotherapy, and Self-Directed Therapies in Australians Living with Chronic Hepatitis C

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Abstract

Despite the prevalence of psychiatric co-morbidity in chronic hepatitis C (CHC), treatment is under-researched. Patient preferences are likely to affect treatment uptake, adherence, and success. Thus, the acceptability of psychological supports was explored. A postal survey of Australian CHC outpatients of the Royal Adelaide Hospital and online survey of Australians living with CHC was conducted, assessing demographic and disease-related variables, psychosocial characteristics, past experience with psychological support, and psychological support acceptability. The final sample of 156 patients (58 % male) had significantly worse depression, anxiety, stress, and social support than norms. The most acceptable support type was individual psychotherapy (83 %), followed by bibliotherapy (61 %), pharmacotherapy (56 %), online therapy (45 %), and group psychotherapy (37 %). The most prominent predictor of support acceptability was satisfaction with past use. While individual psychotherapy acceptability was encouragingly high, potentially less costly modalities including group psychotherapy or online therapy may be hampered by low acceptability, the reasons for which need to be further explored.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Nancy Briggs for providing statistical advice, in addition to Megan Phelps, Anton Colman, and Joanne Morgan for their assistance in data collection. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper. This research received no specific funding from the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

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Correspondence to Benjamin J. R. Stewart.

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Stewart, B.J.R., Turnbull, D., Mikocka-Walus, A.A. et al. Acceptability of Psychotherapy, Pharmacotherapy, and Self-Directed Therapies in Australians Living with Chronic Hepatitis C. J Clin Psychol Med Settings 20, 427–439 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10880-012-9339-7

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