Table 4 Impact on social functioning concept elicitation—summary of responses and example quotes

Precautions to avoid transmission

“If you got injured the moment you start– blood start coming out, you’ve got to let everybody know what you have. So we keep on with difficult to do to try and avoid injuries and everything. So you become more extra careful. So it became a burden on your head for, like, I don’t want to do this, I don’t want to do that, because some of the things you get, you might get injured, you might start whatever it is, the sweat and all it, bits and rocks, and they feel like close friends, yes, sometimes you don’t want them to know your things, but you’ve just got to let people know what you have to protect them and protect yourself, whatever it is.”

“It does affect me, especially, as I said to you, when you’re socializing, I can’t socialize with my colleagues as much as I want because, obviously, I have hepatitis B and I still have the virus in me. I’m always conscious about not being too close or not sharing the food or not being able to do as everyone else can do, you understand? Only go out, especially with the colleagues and stuff, having a drink and stuff, I can’t do that as much as I wanted to. That’s the social side of it.”

Reduced social life/feel lonely

Interviewer: what do you think your life would be like if you didn’t have hepatitis? Would it be different?

“It would be different, yes. I believe so. I think I will much more, much more happy. I wouldn’t have hide in my own shells and not wanting to engage with others. I think I would my life would be ten times better than where I am right now. But I think, day-by-day, as days goes by, I feel better now, but I still feel like I’m isolating myself.”

“You cannot just go out and make friends because people won’t all understand, and maybe they don’t want to be near or risk anything.”

Unable to reach personal/life goals– career goals

“I think I was just looking for the child minding or the same stuff. Like, now I’ve just dropped that idea because the other person, they have to do the vaccine or the stuff that makes me scared.”

Interviewer: Okay. So that stops you looking at that line of work.

“Yes.”

Unable to reach personal/life goals– family life

“Emotionally it is quite worrying because I might wait too late to have what I want in life and what I can’t, so it’s just like a constant fear of I have children and stuff like that.”

Unable to reach personal/life goals– unable to donate blood

“I’ve been concerned that because of that I will not be able to donate blood or anything like that.”