Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Hepatitis C Treatment Initiation in British Columbia, Canada: An Interrupted Time Series Study.
Viruses
; 16(5)2024 04 23.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38793537
ABSTRACT
We investigated the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on hepatitis C (HCV) treatment initiation, including by birth cohort and injection drug use status, in British Columbia (BC), Canada. Using population data from the BC COVID-19 Cohort, we conducted interrupted time series analyses, estimating changes in HCV treatment initiation following the introduction of pandemic-related policies in March 2020. The study included a pre-policy period (April 2018 to March 2020) and three follow-up periods (April to December 2020, January to December 2021, and January to December 2022). The level of HCV treatment initiation decreased by 26% in April 2020 (rate ratio 0.74, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.60 to 0.91). Overall, no statistically significant difference in HCV treatment initiation occurred over the 2020 and 2021 post-policy periods, and an increase of 34.4% (95% CI 0.6 to 75.8) occurred in 2022 (equating to 321 additional people initiating treatment), relative to expectation. Decreases in HCV treatment initiation occurred in 2020 for people born between 1965 and 1974 (25.5%) and people who inject drugs (24.5%), relative to expectation. In summary, the pandemic was associated with short-term disruptions in HCV treatment initiation in BC, which were greater for people born 1965 to 1974 and people who inject drugs.
Key words
Full text:
1
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Antiviral Agents
/
Hepatitis C
/
Interrupted Time Series Analysis
/
COVID-19
Limits:
Adult
/
Aged
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Country/Region as subject:
America do norte
Language:
En
Journal:
Viruses
Year:
2024
Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Canada