Hepatitis C virus burden: Treating and educating people without prejudice

Table 1 Patient characteristics at the start of treatment

Characteristic	n = 40
Gender [male; n (%)]	31 (77.5)
Age [yr; median (range)]	46.5 (24-63)
Severity of opioid use disorder
Abstinent, n (%)	16 (40.0)
User, n (%)	21 (52.5)
Abuser, n (%)	3 (7.5)
Concomitant opioid agonist maintenance therapy
Metadone, n (%)	35 (87.5)
Buprenorfine, n (%)	1 (2.5)
None (previous history), n (%)	4 (10.0)
History of alcohol abuse, n (%)	14 (35.0)
Concomitant psychoactive drugs, n (%)	17 (42.5)
HCV genotype
1a, n (%)	21 (52.5)
3, n (%)	18 (45.0)
4, n (%)	1 (2.5)
Liver disease staging1
F0, n (%)	8 (22.9)
F1, n (%)	12 (34.3)
F2, n (%)	6 (17.1)
F3, n (%)	5 (14.3)
F4, n (%)	4 (11.4)

¹Available in 35 cases. Elastography could not be performed in the remaining 5 patients and disease staging was calculated using “Fibrosis 4 Score”. HCV: Hepatitis C virus.

Table 2 Management and outcomes of anti-hepatitis C virus treatment

Treatment outcomes	n = 40
Therapy management
Self-administration at home, n (%)	16 (40.0)
Daily administration at the SUD, n (%)	21 (52.5)
In-patient in rehabilitation service, n (%)	3 (7.5)
Complete adherence to the programme, n (%)	37 (92.5)
Therapy completion, n (%)	40 (100)
Post-treatment controls, n (%)	37 (92.5)
HCV-RNA at end of treatment
Negative, n (%)	39 (97.5)
Not assessed, n (%)	1 (2.5)
SVR12	21 (52.5)
Negative, n (%)*	28 (70.0)
Not assessed, n (%)	12 (30.0)
Delayed SVR
Negative, n (%)1	9 (22.5)
Not assessed, n (%)	3 (7.5)
HCV reinfection, n (%)	1 (2.5)
Side effects, n (%)	0 (0)

¹Intention-to-treat analysis. SVR: Sustained Virologic response; HCV: Hepatitis C virus.