The impact of point-of-care hepatitis C testing in needle and syringe exchange programs on linkage to care and treatment uptake among people who inject drugs: An Australian pilot study.
J Viral Hepat
; 29(5): 375-384, 2022 05.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-35274403
ABSTRACT
Point-of-care (POC) diagnostics overcome barriers to conventional hepatitis C (HCV) testing in people who inject drugs. This study assessed impact on hepatitis C treatment uptake of POC HCV testing in needle and syringe exchange programs (NSPs). Rapid EC was a single-arm interventional pilot study of HCV POC testing conducted in three inner-city community clinics with NSPs. Twelve months after the POC testing, a retrospective medical record and Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme audit was performed to determine the number of HCV RNA-positive participants who were prescribed HCV treatment. 70 HCV RNA-positive Rapid EC study participants were included. 44 (63%) were prescribed DAAs; 26 (59%) completed treatment and 15 (34%) had SVR testing, all of whom were cured. Age ≥ 40 years (aOR 3.45, 95% CI 1.10-11.05, p = .03) and secondary school education (aOR 5.8, 95% CI 1.54-21.80, p = .009) had higher likelihood of being prescribed DAAs, whereas homelessness was inversely associated with prescription of DAAs (aOR 0.30, 95% CI 0.09-1.04, p = .057). Median time to receive a DAA script from date of diagnosis was seven days (IQR 0 to 14 days), and time to filling the DAA prescription was 2 days (IQR 0-12 days). In conclusion, provision of POC testing through NSPs was effective for linking new clients to HCV treatment and reduced the time to treatment. Further studies are needed to define the most cost-effective use of POC testing in models of care for people who inject drugs to increase HCV treatment uptake.
Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Abuso de Sustancias por Vía Intravenosa
/
Hepatitis C
/
Consumidores de Drogas
Tipo de estudio:
Diagnostic_studies
/
Observational_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Aspecto:
Implementation_research
Límite:
Adult
/
Humans
País/Región como asunto:
Oceania
Idioma:
En
Revista:
J Viral Hepat
Asunto de la revista:
GASTROENTEROLOGIA
Año:
2022
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Australia