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What barriers delay treatment in patients with hepatitis C?
Kimberly Crosby1, Simone Bigelow1, Viviane Sachs1
1University of Oklahoma School of Community Medicine, Department of Family and Community Medicine, Tulsa.
Insights
Multiple patient and provider factors impede hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment initiation. Addressing barriers like comorbidities, psychosocial issues, and adherence concerns is crucial for effective HCV management.
Area of Science:
- Hepatology
- Infectious Diseases
- Public Health
Background:
- Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection requires timely treatment for optimal outcomes.
- Numerous patient-specific and provider-perceived factors can delay the initiation of curative therapies.
- Understanding these barriers is essential for improving treatment access and efficacy.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify and categorize patient-specific and provider-perceived factors that delay HCV treatment initiation.
- To synthesize evidence on the impact of various patient characteristics and provider perspectives on treatment delays.
Main Methods:
- Systematic review of prospective and retrospective cohort studies.
- Analysis of patient demographics, comorbidities (e.g., HIV coinfection, psychiatric illness), psychosocial factors, and substance abuse history.
- Evaluation of provider perceptions regarding patient suitability and adherence risks.
Main Results:
- Patient-specific barriers include age, race, gender, socioeconomic status, insurance, and comorbidities.
- Provider-perceived barriers encompass substance abuse history, older age, psychiatric conditions, medical comorbidities, and adherence concerns.
- Variability in data reporting for substance use disorders presents a limitation.
Conclusions:
- A complex interplay of patient and provider factors hinders timely HCV treatment.
- Addressing socioeconomic, psychosocial, and comorbidity-related barriers is vital for enhancing treatment initiation rates.
- Further research with standardized reporting is needed to overcome data variability issues.
Abstract:
A Multiple patient-specific and provider-perceived factors delay initiation of treatment in patients with hepatitis C. Patient-specific barriers to initiation of treatment for hepatitis C virus (HCV) include age, race, gender, economic status, insurance status, and comorbidities such as HIV coinfection, psychiatric illness, and other psychosocial factors.Provider-perceived patient factors include substance abuse history, older age, psychiatric illness, medical comorbidities, treatment adverse effect risks, and factors that might limit adherence (eg, comprehension level).Study limitations included problems with generalizability of the populations studied and variability in reporting or interpreting data associated with substance or alcohol use disorders (strength of recommendation: B, based on 2 prospective and 5 retrospective cohort studies).
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