Turkish Journal of Gastroenterology
Original Article

In a Real-Life Setting, Direct-Acting Antivirals to People Who Inject Drugs with Chronic Hepatitis C in Turkey

1.

Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Antalya Training and Research Hospital, Antalya, Turkey

2.

Department of Infectious Diseases, Haseki Education Research Hospital, İstanbul, Turkey

3.

Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Çukurova University Faculty of Medicine, Adana, Turkey

4.

Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Mustafa Kemal University Faculty of Medicine, Hatay, Turkey

5.

Department of Gastroenterology, Medeniyet University Göztepe Training and Research Hospital, İstanbul, Turkey

6.

Department of Infectious Diseases, İstanbul Şişli Hamidiye Etfal Training and Research Hospital, İstanbul, Turkey

7.

Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Harran University Faculty of Medicine, Şanlıurfa, Turkey

8.

Department of Infectious Diseases, İstanbul Doctor Lütfi Kırdar Kartal Training and Research Hospital, İstanbul, Turkey

9.

Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Namık Kemal University Faculty of Medicine, Tekirdağ, Turkey

10.

Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey

11.

Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Ege University Faculty of Medicine, İzmir, Turkey

12.

Department of Infectious Diseases, İzmir Tepecik Training and Research Hospital, İzmir, Turkey

13.

Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Eskişehir Osmangazi University Faculty of Medicine, Eskişehir, Turkey

14.

Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Düzce University Medical School, Düzce, Turkey

15.

Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Karadeniz Teknik University Faculty of Medicine, Trabzon, Turkey

16.

Department of Infectious Diseases, İstanbul Education Research Hospital, İstanbul, Turkey

17.

Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, İstanbul University-Cerrahpaşa, Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine, İstanbul, Turkey

18.

Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Ondokuz Mayıs University Faculty of Medicine, Samsun, Turkey

19.

Department of Infectious Diseases, Samsun Education Research Hospital, Samsun, Turkey

20.

Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University Training and Research Hospital, Rize, Turkey

21.

Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Akdeniz University Medical School, Antalya, Turkey

22.

Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Gaziosmanpaşa University Medical Faculty, Tokat, Turkey

23.

Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Gaziantep University Medical Faculty, Gaziantep, Turkey

24.

Department of Infectious Diseases, İstanbul Bağcılar Training and Research Hospital, İstanbul, Turkey

25.

Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Çanakkale 18 Mart University Faculty of Medicine, Çanakkale, Turkey

26.

Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Gazi University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey

27.

Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Hitit University Faculty of Medicine, Çorum, Turkey

28.

Department of Infectious Diseases, Ankara Dr. Abdurrahman Yurtaslan Ankara Oncology Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey

29.

Department of Infectious Diseases, Ankara Numune Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey

30.

Department of Gastroenterology, Bolu İzzet Baysal University Medical Faculty, Bolu, Turkey

31.

Department of Infectious Diseases, Health Science University Gülhane Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey

32.

Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Fırat University School of Medicine, Elazığ, Turkey

33.

Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Zonguldak Bülent Ecevit University Training and Research Hospital, Zonguldak, Turkey

34.

Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Yüzüncü Yıl University Faculty of Medicine, Van, Turkey

35.

Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Sakarya University Training and Research Hospital, Sakarya, Turkey

36.

Department of Infectious Diseases, İstanbul Bakırköy Dr. Sadi Konuk Training and Research Hospital, İstanbul, Turkey

37.

Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Bolu İzzet Baysal University Medical Faculty, Bolu, Turkey

Turk J Gastroenterol 2022; 33: 971-978
DOI: 10.5152/tjg.2022.21834
Read: 1431 Downloads: 531 Published: 01 November 2022

Background: People who inject drugs (PWID) should be treated in order to eliminate hepatitis C virus in the world. The aim of this study was to compare direct-acting antivirals treatment of hepatitis C virus for PWID and non-PWID in a real-life setting.

Methods: We performed a prospective, non-randomized, observational multicenter cohort study in 37 centers. All patients treated with direct-acting antivirals between April 1, 2017, and February 28, 2019, were included. In total, 2713 patients were included in the study among which 250 were PWID and 2463 were non-PWID. Besides patient characteristics, treatment response, follow-up, and side effects of treatment were also analyzed.

Results: Genotype 1a and 3 were more prevalent in PWID-infected patients (20.4% vs 9.9% and 46.8% vs 5.3%). The number of naïve patients was higher in PWID (90.7% vs 60.0%), while the number of patients with cirrhosis was higher in non-PWID (14.1% vs 3.7%). The loss of follow-up was higher in PWID (29.6% vs 13.6%). There was no difference in the sustained virologic response at 12 weeks after treatment (98.3% vs 98.4%), but the end of treatment response was lower in PWID (96.2% vs 99.0%). In addition, the rate of treatment completion was lower in PWID (74% vs 94.4%).

Conclusion: Direct-acting antivirals were safe and effective in PWID. Primary measures should be taken to prevent the loss of follow-up and poor adherence in PWID patients in order to achieve World Health Organization’s objective of eliminating viral hepatitis

Cite this article as: Sarıgül Yıldırım F, Üser Ü, Sarı ND, et al. In a real-life setting, direct-acting antivirals to people who inject drugs with chronic hepatitis C in Turkey. Turk J Gastroenterol. 2022;33(11):971-978

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