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Comparing Treatment Response Between Older and Younger Patients with Chronic Hepatitis C Virus Infection on

Alyssa K Francis1, Francesca L Beaudoin2, Safiya S Naidjate3

  • 1School of Public Health, Brown University, Providence, RI.

Rhode Island Medical Journal (2013)
|June 3, 2020
PubMed

Insights

Older adults achieve high sustained virologic response 12 weeks post-treatment (SVR12) rates with direct-acting antiviral (DAA) therapy, similar to younger patients. This challenges the notion of older individuals being a difficult-to-treat population for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection.

Area of Science:

  • Hepatology
  • Virology
  • Geriatric Medicine

Background:

  • Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection historically presented treatment challenges, particularly in older populations.
  • Direct-acting antiviral (DAA) agents have revolutionized HCV treatment, offering high cure rates.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To compare sustained virologic response 12 weeks post-treatment (SVR12) in older versus younger adults with chronic HCV receiving DAA therapy.
  • To evaluate patient characteristics associated with treatment outcomes in different age groups.

Main Methods:

  • Retrospective cohort study of 154 patients with chronic HCV treated with DAA agents between 2015-2018.
  • Comparison of SVR12 rates and patient characteristics between older (≥60 years) and younger (<60 years) adults.
  • Statistical analysis using chi-squared tests.

Main Results:

  • Overall SVR12 rate was 94.1%.
  • SVR12 rates were comparable between older adults (91.8%) and younger adults (95.6%), with no statistically significant difference (p=0.51).

Conclusions:

  • Older adults are not a "difficult-to-treat" subpopulation for HCV with modern DAA therapy.
  • DAA therapy ensures high treatment success rates across different age groups for hepatitis C virus infection.
Abstract

Keywords:
chronicdirect-acting antiviral agentshepatitis Colder adultssustained virologic response

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