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Reasons for non‐treatment of hepatitis C in veterans in care
Author(s) -
Butt A. A.,
Wagener M.,
Shakil A. O.,
Ahmad J.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
journal of viral hepatitis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.329
H-Index - 100
eISSN - 1365-2893
pISSN - 1352-0504
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2893.2005.00547.x
Subject(s) - medicine , hepatitis c , hepatology , liver disease , referral , specialty , pegylated interferon , hepatitis c virus , ribavirin , family medicine , immunology , virus
Summary. We prospectively studied 354 patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection who were referred to a hepatology specialty clinic to find the reasons for non‐treatment of HCV. The median age was 48 years (range 27–77 years), 98.5% were male and 71% were white. Seventy per cent of the patients were not treated. The most common reasons for non‐treatment were non‐adherence to follow‐up visit (24%), normal liver enzymes (14%), concurrent medical problems (11%), alcohol and drug use (9%), psychiatric problems (7%), advanced liver disease (7%), referral for transplant evaluation (6.4%) and patient refusal, transfer of care to another facility and non‐detectable HCV RNA levels (5% each). The reason was not recorded for 5% of the patients and was treatment deferred in 2.4% while waiting for pegylated interferon approval. Non‐treatment was more likely in patients with less than 12 years of education and a history of incarceration. Patients who were lost to follow‐up and refused treatment were more likely to have current alcohol and drug use and a history of incarceration.