1. |
- Aleman, Soo, et al.
(author)
-
Frequent loss to follow-up after diagnosis of hepatitis C virus infection : A barrier towards the elimination of hepatitis C virus
- 2020
-
In: Liver international (Print). - : Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Inc.. - 1478-3223 .- 1478-3231. ; 40:8, s. 1832-1840
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Previous studies on hepatitis C cascade of care have been mainly focused on diagnosis and treatment rate, while less attention has been given to patients lost to follow-up (LTFU) after diagnosis. Analyses of this latter issue on population level are missing.AIMS: In this nationwide study of people with HCV, we aimed to estimate the proportion LTFU after HCV diagnosis, characterize them, and analyze their other healthcare contacts.METHODS: Patients diagnosed with chronic HCV in the Swedish National Patient register during 2001-2011 and still alive December 31, 2013, were included. The number of cured patients without need of follow-up was estimated. Visits to HCV specialist care during 2012-2013 were analysed. For those LTFU, other specialist care contacts were studied.RESULTS: In total 29,217 patients were included, with 24,733 with need of HCV care. 61% (n=15,007) of them were LTFU from HCV care in 2012-2013 and 58% did not attend HCV care during the second year after HCV diagnosis. The departments of surgery/orthopedic or psychiatry/dependency were the most common other non-primary healthcare contacts. Predictors for LTFU were young age, male sex, low education, presence of psychiatric/dependency diagnosis, unmarried, and longer duration since diagnosis of HCV.CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that almost two-thirds of patients were LTFU after HCV diagnosis, with frequent occurrence early after diagnosis. Efforts to link patients back to HCV care, in combination with early and easy access to HCV treatment and harm reduction, are necessary to reach the HCV elimination goal.
|
|
2. |
- Kåberg, Martin, et al.
(author)
-
High risk of non-alcoholic liver disease mortality in patients with chronic hepatitis C with illicit substance use disorder
- 2020
-
In: Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology. - : Taylor & Francis. - 0036-5521 .- 1502-7708. ; 55:5, s. 574-580
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Aims: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a slowly progressive disease, often transmitted among people who inject drugs (PWID). Mortality in PWID is high, with an overrepresentation of drug-related causes. This study investigated the risk of death in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection with or without illicit substance use disorder (ISUD).Methods: Patients with HCV were identified using the Swedish National Patient Registry according to the International Classification of Diseases-10 (ICD-10) code B18.2, with ≤5 matched comparators from the general population. Patients with ≥2 physician visits with ICD-10 codes F11, F12, F14, F15, F16, or F19 were considered to have ISUD. The underlying cause of death was analyzed for alcoholic liver disease, non-alcoholic liver disease, liver cancer, drug-related and external causes, non-liver cancers, or other causes. Mortality risks were assessed using the standardized mortality ratio (SMR) with 95% CIs and Cox regression analyses for cause-specific hazard ratios.Results: In total, 38,186 patients with HCV were included, with 31% meeting the ISUD definition. Non-alcoholic liver disease SMRs in patients with and without ISUD were 123.2 (95% CI, 103.7-145.2) and 69.4 (95% CI, 63.8-75.3), respectively. The significant independent factors associated with non-alcoholic liver disease mortality were older age, being unmarried, male sex, and having ISUD.Conclusions: The relative risks for non-alcoholic liver disease mortality were elevated for patients with ISUD. Having ISUD was a significant independent factor for non-alcoholic liver disease. Thus, patients with HCV with ISUD should be given HCV treatment to reduce the risk for liver disease.
|
|
3. |
- Söderholm, Jonas, et al.
(author)
-
ELEVATED RISK FOR LIVER RELATED MORTALITY IN CHRONIC HEPATITIS C PATIENTS BOTH WITH OR WITHOUT ILLICIT SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER : A NATION-WIDE REGISTER STUDY
- 2019
-
In: Hepatology. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0270-9139 .- 1527-3350. ; 70:Suppl. 1, s. 366A-366A
-
Journal article (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Background: Hepatitis C is a slowly progressive disease mainly transmitted in people who inject drugs . This cohort has a high mortality from drug related causes, such as overdoses or external causes. We investigated the relative risk for liver related death in chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients with or without illicit substance use disorders (SUD) .Methods: Patients with CHC were identified using the Swedish National Patient Registry (contains all inpatient, day surgery, and outpatient non-primary care visits) according to the International Classification of Diseases-10 (ICD-10) code B18.2. The baseline observation was set to the first CHC visit from 2001, and person-time continued until death, emigration or December 31, 2013, whichever came first. Patients with ≥2 non-primary care visits with ICD-10 codes F11, F12, F14, F15, F16, or F19 were considered to have illicit SUD . The underlying cause of death was obtained from the Cause of Death Register . A six months lag-period between CHC diagnosis and death was introduced to reduce surveillance bias. Non-alcoholic liver disease was defined using ICD-10 codes K71–K77, B15–B19, B94.2, R17-R18, I85 .0, I98 .2, and I98 .3 . The relative risk for death was determined using standardized mortality ratio (SMR) where the observed number of deaths was divided by the expected number of deaths taken from five comparators from the general population (matched for age/sex/place of residency) .Results: In total 38,186 patients with CHC were included in the study whereof 11,818 (31%) were considered to have illicit SUD . The CHC patients with SUD were younger (37 .7 vs . 46 .9 years) with a greater proportion of men (72% vs . 62%) than CHC patients without SUD . The SMRs for CHC patients with SUD were 10 .5, 33 .8, 18 .1, 123 .2, 61 .6, and 13 .2, for all-causes, liver cancer, alcoholic or non-alcoholic liver disease, drug-related, or external causes, respectively (Table 1) . The corresponding SMRs for CHC patients without SUD were 4 .1, 52 .8, 18 .0, 69 .4, 11 .2, and 4 .9, respectively (Table 1) .Conclusion: The relative risks for all investigated parameters were elevated for CHC patients whether they had illicit SUD or not . Furthermore, although the CHC patients with SUD had a high relative risk to die from both drug-related and external causes, the relative risk to die from non-alcoholic liver disease was also greatly elevated .
|
|