Table 2.
Characteristics of groups categorized by social support
| Social support group | P value | ||
| Supportive environment (n = 250) | Unsupportive environment (n = 92) | ||
| Demographic characteristics | |||
| Mean age in years (SD) | 45.33 (9.82) | 44.88 (7.52) | 0.49 |
| Women | 91 (71.1) | 37 (29.0) | 0.52 |
| Racial/ethnic background | 0.09 | ||
| White | 229 (73.9) | 81 (26.1) | |
| Black Other† | 15 (79.0) | 4 (21.0) | |
| 6 (46.2) | 7 (53.8) | ||
| Marital status | < 0.0011 | ||
| Living with partner | 171 (80.7) | 41 (19.3) | |
| Living alone | 79 (60.8) | 51 (39.2) | |
| Education | 0.59 | ||
| K-12 | 98 (71.5) | 39 (28.5) | |
| College | 152 (74.1) | 53 (26.0) | |
| Employment prior to diagnosis | 0.63 | ||
| Employed | 218 (73.6) | 78 (26.4) | |
| Unemployed | 23 (70.0) | 10 (30.0) | |
| Current employment | 0.011 | ||
| Employed | 169 (78.0) | 48 (22.0) | |
| Unemployed | 75 (64.1) | 42 (36.0) | |
| Population of hometown | 0.29 | ||
| Rural | 165 (75.0) | 55 (25.0) | |
| Urban | 85 (70.0) | 37 (30.0) | |
| Interview to treatment status | 0.031 | ||
| Before | 23 (72.0) | 9 (28.0) | |
| During | 72 (77.4) | 21 (23.0) | |
| After | 76 (81.0) | 18 (19.1) | |
| Naïve | 79 (64.2) | 44 (36.0)1 | |
| Clinical characteristics | 0.8 | ||
| Current substance use | |||
| Yes | 17 (71.0) | 7 (29.0) | |
| Total psychiatric diagnosis | |||
| 0 | 197 (78.5) | 54 (22.0) | < 0.0011 |
| 1 | 42 (57.0) | 32 (43.2) | |
| 2 | 10 (71.4) | 4 (29.0) | |
| 3-5 | 0 (0.0) | 2 (100.0) | |
| Advanced liver disease (cirrhosis) | 63 (78.0) | 18 (22.0) | 0.27 |
| HCV due to IV drugs | 117 (66.0) | 60 (34.0) | 0.0021 |
| HCV due to other methods of transmission | 89 (83.2) | 18 (17.0) | |
| Mean Child-Pugh score (SD) | 0.68 | ||
| Normal | 234 (69.0) | 85 (25.0) | |
| Elevated | 15 (4.4) | 7 (2.1) | |
| Mean HAD summary scores (SD) | |||
| Depression score | 4.04 (3.47) | 6.95 (4.48) | < 0.0011 |
| Anxiety score | 6.57 (3.86) | 8.95 (4.40) | < 0.0011 |
| Mean SIP summary scores (SD) | |||
| Physical score | 4.64 (7.03) | 10.4 (12.17) | < 0.0011 |
| Psychosocial score | 10.81 (13.67) | 22.9 (18.82) | < 0.0011 |
| Mean SIP subscale scores (SD) | |||
| Social interaction | 18.86 (25.40) | 34.17 (27.72) | < 0.0011 |
| Emotional balance | 8.76 (12.06) | 19.3 (16.30) | < 0.0011 |
| Alertness | 5.15 (8.69) | 9.79 (11.24) | < 0.0011 |
| Body care and movement | 7.06 (12.56) | 16.09 (23.73) | 0.0021 |
| Ambulation | 9.60 (16.53) | 22.38 (24.48) | < 0.0011 |
| Mobility | 4.34 (7.67) | 11.19 (13.36) | < 0.0011 |
| Communication | 2.32 (6.41) | 7.91 (12.63) | 0.0011 |
SD: Standard Deviation; HCV: Hepatitis C virus; IV: Intravenous; HAD: Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale; SIP: Sickness Impact Profile. † Other ethnicity includes Hispanic, Native American, Asian and Pacific Islander.
1
Denotes statistically significant P value.