Open AccessEstimating the Number of Patients Infected With Chronic HCV in the United States Who Meet Highest or High-Priority Treatment Criteria
Author(s) -
Fujie Xu,
Andrew J. Leidner,
Xin Tong,
Scott D. Holmberg
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
american journal of public health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.284
H-Index - 264
eISSN - 1541-0048
pISSN - 0090-0036
DOI - 10.2105/ajph.2015.302652
Subject(s) - medicine , ninth , family medicine , acoustics , physics
We estimated the number of people infected with HCV in the United States who would qualify for immediate treatment according to the 2014 guidance. We based fibrosis stage on biopsy results, when available, or on FIB-4 scores. We used laboratory tests and International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification codes to determine if patients had any qualifying comorbidities. Of the 2.7 million people with HCV infection, we assumed that 1.35 million (50%) had been diagnosed. We estimated 457, 000 met the highest and 356, 000 the high-priority criteria for treatment, indicating that as many as 813,000 people could be treated immediately with new therapies. These estimates can inform planning efforts to address clinical capacity constraints and treatment costs.