Quality of Care in Patients With Chronic Hepatitis C Virus Infection
Authors: Fasiha Kanwal, Bruce R. Bacon, Steven M. Asch
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2011)

Letters1 February 2011Quality of Care in Patients With Chronic Hepatitis C Virus InfectionFasiha Kanwal, MD, MSHS, Bruce R. Bacon, MD, and Steven M. Asch, MD, MPHFasiha Kanwal, MD, MSHSFrom John Cochran Veterans Affairs Medical Center, St. Louis, MO 63106; Saint Louis University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110-0250; and Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90073.Search for more papers by this author, Bruce R. Bacon, MDFrom John Cochran Veterans Affairs Medical Center, St. Louis, MO 63106; Saint Louis University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110-0250; and Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90073.Search for more papers by this author, and Steven M. Asch, MD, MPHFrom John Cochran Veterans Affairs Medical Center, St. Louis, MO 63106; Saint Louis University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110-0250; and Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90073.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-154-3-201102010-00019 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail IN RESPONSE:We are very cognizant of the limitations of administrative data pointed out by Dr. Rockey and Dr. Talal and colleagues. Because we did not have access to data that reliably captured all treatment contraindications, we opted not to use treatment contraindications as an explicit exclusion criterion for our treatment receipt indicator. Without a doubt, this limits interpretation of 1 important component indicator of our analysis. However, the prevalence of absolute contraindications to antiviral treatment may not be as high as posited by this comment.Published data show that approximately 10% of patients with HCV are excluded from treatment ...References1. Bini EJ, Bräu N, Currie S, Shen H, Anand BS, Hu KQ, et al. Prospective multicenter study of eligibility for antiviral therapy among 4,084 U.S. veterans with chronic hepatitis C virus infection. Am J Gastroenterol. 2005;100:1772-9. [PMID: 16086714] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar2. Cawthorne CH, Rudat KR, Burton MS, Brown KE, Luxon BA, Janney CG, et al. Limited success of HCV antiviral therapy in United States veterans. Am J Gastroenterol. 2002;97:149-55. [PMID: 11808940] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar3. Muir AJ, Provenzale D. A descriptive evaluation of eligibility for therapy among veterans with chronic hepatitis C virus infection. J Clin Gastroenterol. 2002;34:268-71. [PMID: 11873110] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar4. Knott A, Dieperink E, Willenbring ML, Heit S, Durfee JM, Wingert M, et al. Integrated psychiatric/medical care in a chronic hepatitis C clinic: effect on antiviral treatment evaluation and outcomes. Am J Gastroenterol. 2006;101:2254-62. [PMID: 17032190] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar5. Lehman CL, Cheung RC. Depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, and alcohol-related problems among veterans with chronic hepatitis C. Am J Gastroenterol. 2002;97:2640-6. [PMID: 12385453] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: From John Cochran Veterans Affairs Medical Center, St. Louis, MO 63106; Saint Louis University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110-0250; and Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90073.Disclosures: Disclosures can be viewed at www.acponline.org/authors/icmje/ConflictOfInterestForms.do?msNum=M09-2380. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoQuality of Care in Patients With Chronic Hepatitis C Virus Infection Fasiha Kanwal , Mark S. Schnitzler , Bruce R. Bacon , Tuyen Hoang , Paula M. Buchanan , and Steven M. Asch Quality of Care in Patients With Chronic Hepatitis C Virus Infection Don C. Rockey Quality of Care in Patients With Chronic Hepatitis C Virus Infection Andrew H. Talal , David C. Perlman , and Don C. Des Jarlais Metrics 1 February 2011Volume 154, Issue 3Page: 214-215KeywordsDrug therapyForecastingHealth careHealth care qualityHealth insuranceInfectious hepatitisMedical servicesPatientsPsychiatry and mental healthTreatment guidelines ePublished: 1 February 2011 Issue Published: 1 February 2011 CopyrightCopyright © 2011 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF DownloadLoading ...