Abstract: Objective To investigate the prevalence of depression and its risk factors in patients with chronic viral hepatitis B.Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted among the patients with chronic viral hepatitis in Infectious Hospital of Taiyuan.Eysenck Personality Questionnaire,Self-rating Depression Scale(SDS),and a self-designed questionnaire on general conditions,disease information and social support were adopted in the survey.Results The prevalence of depression symptoms in the patients was 57.6%(76/132) with 42 slight cases,27 moderate cases,and 7 serious cases.Multiple linear regression analysis showed that factors as recurrence frequency(b=4.362,P0.001),degree of hepatitis B(b=3.233,P=0.004),social support scores(b=-0.211,P=0.036),worried about the transmission of infection(b=5.041,P=0.001),emotional stability dimension scores(b=0.626,P=0.001),and antiretroviral therapy(b=3.484,P=0.038) were associated with the symptoms of depression.Conclusion Factors as recurrence frequency,degree of hepatitis B,social support,worried about infectious transmission,emotional stability dimension score,antiretroviral therapy might be associated with symptoms of depression in chronic viral hepiatitis patients.