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

Authors :
Valerio Rosato
Riccardo Nevola
Vincenza Conturso
Pasquale Perillo
Davide Mastrocinque
Annalisa Pappalardo
Teresa Le Pera
Ferdinando Del Vecchio
Ernesto Claar
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