Back to Search
Start Over
Telemedicine Improves HCV Elimination among Italian People Who Use Drugs: An Innovative Therapeutic Model to Increase the Adherence to Treatment into Addiction Care Centers Evaluated before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic
- Source :
- Biology, Vol 11, Iss 6, p 800 (2022)
- Publication Year :
- 2022
- Publisher :
- MDPI AG, 2022.
-
Abstract
- People who use drugs (PWUDs) are generally considered “hard-to-treat” patients, due to adherence to HCV antiviral therapy or re-infection concerns. Linkage-to-care still remains a significant gap for HCV elimination, worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic. To reduce time-to-treat and improve treatment adherence, we have developed a patient-tailored model-of-care, decentralized within the addiction center and supervised remotely by hepatologists. From January 2017 to December 2020, patients were enrolled in one addiction care center in Southern Italy, where a complete hepatologic assessment, including blood chemistry, ultrasound, and transient elastography examination, was provided. DAAs treatment has been adapted on clinical features, also performing a daily administration during an outpatient visit, and monitored remotely by specialists via telemedicine interactions. Adherence was evaluated on the accomplishment of therapy or on the percentage of attended visits. From a total of 690 PWUDs, 135 had an active HCV infection and were enrolled in the study. All patients started the treatment within 3 weeks after HCV diagnosis. Six drop-outs were recorded, obtaining a sustained virological response at week 12 (SVR12) in 98.5% of PWUDs. There were only two cases of treatment failure, one of which is re-infection. No differences were found between the SVR12 rates before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. We obtained a high SVR12 rate, providing a comprehensive assessment within the addiction care center, tailoring the drug administration with a hepatologic remote stewardship. Our therapeutic model should improve the time-to-treat and treatment adherence in PWUDs.
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 20797737
- Volume :
- 11
- Issue :
- 6
- Database :
- Directory of Open Access Journals
- Journal :
- Biology
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- edsdoj.1c9f76f1301047179d85215daf2253c9
- Document Type :
- article
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.3390/biology11060800