Implementation of a re‐linkage to care strategy in patients with chronic hepatitis C who were lost to follow‐up in Latin America

Mendizábal, Manuel; Thompson, Marcos; Gonzalez‐Ballerga, Esteban; Anders, Margarita; Castro-Narro, Graciela; Cheinquer, Hugo; Mezzano, Gabriel; Palazzo, Ana; Ridruejo, Ezequiel; Descalzi, Valeria; Velasco, J.A. Velarde-Ruiz; Marciano, Sebastián; Muñoz, Linda; Schinoni, María Isabel; Poníachik, Jaime; Perazzo, Rosalía; Cerda, Eira; Fuster, Francisco; Varón, Adriana; García, Sandro Ruiz; Soza, Alejandro; Cabrera, Cecilia; Aldana, Andrés José Gómez; Beltrán, Flor de María; Gerona, Solange; Cocozzella, Daniel; Bessone, Fernando; Hernández, Nelia; Alonso, Cristina; Ferreiro, Melina; Antinucci, Florencia; Torre, Aldo; Moutinho, Bruna; Borges, Silvia Coelho; Gómez, Fernando; Murga, Maria Dolores; Piñero, Federico; Sotera, Gisela F.; Ocampo, Jhonier A.; Mollinedo, Valeria A. Cortés; Simian, Daniela; Silva, Marcelo O.

doi:10.1111/jvh.13758

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…The patient characteristics were similar to other studies, with 64 % male patients in this study versus 59 % [24], 57.4 % [25], 49 % [27], or 40 % [28] in other studies. The prevalence of the socalled difficult-to-treat risk groups, especially people with intravenous substance abuse (21 % of patients), prison inmates (4 % of patients), and patients with alcohol addiction (21 % of patients), as well as 44 % in substitution, was high in our cohort.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

“…With this study, we were able to motivate 10 patients, equaling 40 % of patients who agreed to an appointment and 10 % of patients for whom contact details were available, to reintegrate back into medical care and successfully initiate treatment for hepatitis C infection. This was lower or in line with other studies [22,25,26] and adds to the WHO's 2030 aim to nearly eliminate hepatitis C [15]. Without engagement activities, these high-risk patients may have stayed hesitant to access the normal treatment pathway.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 79%

“…The number of patients who could be relinked here (25 %) falls within the range observed in other ReLink projects, with 31 % [22] and a randomized clinical trial (25 %) [23], or is lower than reported for other projects (50 % to 74 %) [21,24]. The percentage of patients who finally received treatment (40 %) exceeds the reported overall DAA treatment rate (19 %) for six ReLink projects [22] and is similar to a ReLink project in Latin America, being one of the six [25], and a Spanish ReLink project (each 25 %) [21], and lower than compared to the French RECONVOCC study (40 %) [24]. In this study, 8 % of the patients contacted refused treatment and 32 % did not show up at the center.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 49%

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ReLink strategy in diagnosed-but-untreated hepatitis C-positive patients in Germany: report from a single center

Lange,

Baehr,

Cakman-Hinrichs

et al. 2024

Z Gastroenterol

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Objective The ReLink project aims to reintegrate diagnosed-but-untreated hepatitis-C-positive patients into medical care and initiate a therapy. Material/methods A retrospective search within the practice management system of a single center in Germany identified among 1965 hepatitis-C-positive patients 100 untreated patients with available contact details and meeting all inclusion criteria. Patients were contacted by 2 contact rounds. Results Out of 100 patients, 64% were male. Most patients (81%) were aged between 30 and 59 years. The patients belonged to high-risk groups for hepatitis C virus infections or had other comorbidities. The majority of patients injected drugs (21%) and/or were currently or had been on substitution therapy (44%); alcohol addiction was also frequent (21%). Out of 25 patients who agreed to an appointment, 10 patients (40%) started therapy and 5 additional patients (20%) agreed to therapy but were not yet able to start or had not yet made a decision. One‑third of patients who agreed to an appointment did not show up. Conclusions Diagnosed-but-untreated patients are an important subgroup of hepatitis-C-positive patients; their recall to the clinic for direct-acting antiviral therapy is possible. However, inaccurate contact information, unresponsiveness to outreach, and further reluctance to attend doctor appointments limited the overall impact of this program. Regular review of the patients’ contact details may facilitate both follow-up and recall.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 79%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 49%

See 1 more Smart Citation

ReLink strategy in diagnosed-but-untreated hepatitis C-positive patients in Germany: report from a single center

Lange,

Baehr,

Cakman-Hinrichs

et al. 2024

Z Gastroenterol

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Tackling a worrisome rate of lost to follow-up among migrants with hepatitis B in French Guiana

Vo-Quang,

Vignier,

Adenis

et al. 2024

Infectious Diseases Now

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Retrieval of HCV patients lost to follow-up as a strategy for Hepatitis C Microelimination: results of a Brazilian multicentre study

Ferraz

Andrade

Codes³

et al. 2023

BMC Infect Dis

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Background Several HCV patients in Brazil were lost to follow-up (LTFU) in the last two decades before achievement of sustained virological response (SVR). Strategies to recall those diagnosed but untreated patients have been used elsewhere with different success rates. Aim To identify and retrieve LTFU patients in order to offer them the treatment with the current highly effective direct acting antiviral agents (DAAs). Methods Registries ofall HCV patients from three large reference centers in Brazil were retrospectively reviewed to identify those with no registry of SVR. Reasons for non-achievement of SVR were elicited in HCV-RNA + patients. All patients who were not treated or cured were contacted to offer the therapy with DAAs. Results 10,289 HCV patients (50% males, mean age 52 ± 11 years) were identified. Only 4,293 (41.7%) had been successfully treated previously. From the remaining 5,996 most were LTFU (59%), were not treated for other reasons (14.7%) or were non-responders (26.3%). After revision of the charts 3,559 were considered eligible to be retrieved. The callback success of phone calls was 18%, 13% to cellphone messages (SMS or WhatsApp) and 7% to regular mail. Five-hundred sixty patients had been already treatedor were on treatment and 234 were reported to be dead or transplanted. Finally, 201 had made an appointment and initiated antiviral treatment. Conclusion Even considering the low callback rate, retrieval of LTFU patients was shown to be an important strategy forhepatitis C micro-elimination in Brazil.

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Implementation of a re‐linkage to care strategy in patients with chronic hepatitis C who were lost to follow‐up in Latin America

Cited by 3 publications

References 20 publications

ReLink strategy in diagnosed-but-untreated hepatitis C-positive patients in Germany: report from a single center

ReLink strategy in diagnosed-but-untreated hepatitis C-positive patients in Germany: report from a single center

Tackling a worrisome rate of lost to follow-up among migrants with hepatitis B in French Guiana

Retrieval of HCV patients lost to follow-up as a strategy for Hepatitis C Microelimination: results of a Brazilian multicentre study

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