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An Investigation of the Side Effects, Patient Feedback, and Physiological Changes Associated with Direct-Acting Antiviral Therapy for Hepatitis C
Background: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is one of the major causes of liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma globally. The advent of direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) with high cure rates provides an opportunity to reduce the rising HCV disease burden. However, few studies have explored th...
Autores principales: | , , , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
MDPI
2019
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6950306/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31817863 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16244981 |
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author | Wu, Pin-Sheng Chang, Te-Sheng Lu, Sheng-Nan Su, Hsiang-Jou Chang, Shu-Zhi Hsu, Chia-Wen Chen, Mei-Yen |
author_facet | Wu, Pin-Sheng Chang, Te-Sheng Lu, Sheng-Nan Su, Hsiang-Jou Chang, Shu-Zhi Hsu, Chia-Wen Chen, Mei-Yen |
author_sort | Wu, Pin-Sheng |
collection | PubMed |
description | Background: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is one of the major causes of liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma globally. The advent of direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) with high cure rates provides an opportunity to reduce the rising HCV disease burden. However, few studies have explored the side effects and physiological benefits of DAA therapy in rural areas. The aim of this study was to investigate the subjective reports of discomfort, patient feedback about the course of treatment, and physiological changes after DAA treatment in HCV patients. Methods: A descriptive, prospective, comparative cohort study was conducted from January to August 2019 in western coastal Yunlin County, Taiwan. Data regarding demographic characteristics, subjective discomfort levels, and physiological responses were collected through face to face interviews and from medical records by a cooperating hospital. Results: Six-hundred-and-twenty-three participants with an active HCV infection were identified; 555 (89.1%) had completed treatment, and sustained virologic response was achieved in 99.6% (n = 553). The mean age was 64.9 (standard deviation = 13.1) years, and 35% of patients experienced discomfort during DAA treatment, including fatigue, itching, and dizziness. After three months of treatment, physiological markers, including body weight (p < 0.001), waist circumference (p < 0.05), blood pressure (p < 0.001), alanine aminotransferase (p < 0.001), and aspartate aminotransferase (p < 0.001), had significantly improved. Almost all participants provided positive feedback about the treatment experience and reported manageable side effects. Conclusions: The findings showed that, in an endemic rural area, DAA treatment had a high cure rate and improved physiological markers with few discomforts. These results can be used to reduce the barriers HCV patients face in adopting new medications. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-6950306 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2019 |
publisher | MDPI |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-69503062020-01-16 An Investigation of the Side Effects, Patient Feedback, and Physiological Changes Associated with Direct-Acting Antiviral Therapy for Hepatitis C Wu, Pin-Sheng Chang, Te-Sheng Lu, Sheng-Nan Su, Hsiang-Jou Chang, Shu-Zhi Hsu, Chia-Wen Chen, Mei-Yen Int J Environ Res Public Health Article Background: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is one of the major causes of liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma globally. The advent of direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) with high cure rates provides an opportunity to reduce the rising HCV disease burden. However, few studies have explored the side effects and physiological benefits of DAA therapy in rural areas. The aim of this study was to investigate the subjective reports of discomfort, patient feedback about the course of treatment, and physiological changes after DAA treatment in HCV patients. Methods: A descriptive, prospective, comparative cohort study was conducted from January to August 2019 in western coastal Yunlin County, Taiwan. Data regarding demographic characteristics, subjective discomfort levels, and physiological responses were collected through face to face interviews and from medical records by a cooperating hospital. Results: Six-hundred-and-twenty-three participants with an active HCV infection were identified; 555 (89.1%) had completed treatment, and sustained virologic response was achieved in 99.6% (n = 553). The mean age was 64.9 (standard deviation = 13.1) years, and 35% of patients experienced discomfort during DAA treatment, including fatigue, itching, and dizziness. After three months of treatment, physiological markers, including body weight (p < 0.001), waist circumference (p < 0.05), blood pressure (p < 0.001), alanine aminotransferase (p < 0.001), and aspartate aminotransferase (p < 0.001), had significantly improved. Almost all participants provided positive feedback about the treatment experience and reported manageable side effects. Conclusions: The findings showed that, in an endemic rural area, DAA treatment had a high cure rate and improved physiological markers with few discomforts. These results can be used to reduce the barriers HCV patients face in adopting new medications. MDPI 2019-12-07 2019-12 /pmc/articles/PMC6950306/ /pubmed/31817863 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16244981 Text en © 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
spellingShingle | Article Wu, Pin-Sheng Chang, Te-Sheng Lu, Sheng-Nan Su, Hsiang-Jou Chang, Shu-Zhi Hsu, Chia-Wen Chen, Mei-Yen An Investigation of the Side Effects, Patient Feedback, and Physiological Changes Associated with Direct-Acting Antiviral Therapy for Hepatitis C |
title | An Investigation of the Side Effects, Patient Feedback, and Physiological Changes Associated with Direct-Acting Antiviral Therapy for Hepatitis C |
title_full | An Investigation of the Side Effects, Patient Feedback, and Physiological Changes Associated with Direct-Acting Antiviral Therapy for Hepatitis C |
title_fullStr | An Investigation of the Side Effects, Patient Feedback, and Physiological Changes Associated with Direct-Acting Antiviral Therapy for Hepatitis C |
title_full_unstemmed | An Investigation of the Side Effects, Patient Feedback, and Physiological Changes Associated with Direct-Acting Antiviral Therapy for Hepatitis C |
title_short | An Investigation of the Side Effects, Patient Feedback, and Physiological Changes Associated with Direct-Acting Antiviral Therapy for Hepatitis C |
title_sort | investigation of the side effects, patient feedback, and physiological changes associated with direct-acting antiviral therapy for hepatitis c |
topic | Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6950306/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31817863 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16244981 |
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