Quality of Care in Patients With Chronic Hepatitis C Virus Infection
Authors: Andrew H. Talal, David C. Perlman, Don C. Des Jarlais
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2011)

Letters1 February 2011Quality of Care in Patients With Chronic Hepatitis C Virus InfectionAndrew H. Talal, MD, MPH, David C. Perlman, MD, and Don C. Des Jarlais, PhDAndrew H. Talal, MD, MPHFrom Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY 10065, and Beth Israel Medical Center, New York, NY 10038.Search for more papers by this author, David C. Perlman, MDFrom Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY 10065, and Beth Israel Medical Center, New York, NY 10038.Search for more papers by this author, and Don C. Des Jarlais, PhDFrom Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY 10065, and Beth Israel Medical Center, New York, NY 10038.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-154-3-201102010-00018 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail TO THE EDITOR:Kanwal and colleagues (1) assessed the quality of care of patients with chronic HCV infection who were enrolled in a large health insurance plan. They compared various characteristics, including drug and alcohol use, to identify factors associated with quality HCV care.The authors found that drug and alcohol use was not associated with receiving general HCV care (odds ratio [OR], 0.96 [95% CI, 0.88 to 1.04]) or with receiving any recommended care for HCV (OR, 1.01 [95% CI, 0.94 to 1.08]) (1). However, they discovered that drug and alcohol use was the strongest predictor of receiving higher-quality ...References1. Kanwal F, Schnitzler MS, Bacon BR, Hoang T, Buchanan PM, Asch SM. Quality of care in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection: a cohort study. Ann Intern Med. 2010;153:231-9. [PMID: 20713791] LinkGoogle Scholar2. Mehta SH, Genberg BL, Astemborski J, Kavasery R, Kirk GD, Vlahov D, et al. Limited uptake of hepatitis C treatment among injection drug users. J Community Health. 2008;33:126-33. [PMID: 18165889] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar3. Fishbein DA, Lo Y, Reinus JF, Gourevitch MN, Klein RS. Factors associated with successful referral for clinical care of drug users with chronic hepatitis C who have or are at risk for HIV infection. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 2004;37:1367-75. [PMID: 15483466] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: From Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY 10065, and Beth Israel Medical Center, New York, NY 10038.Disclosures: Dr. Talal received research support from Merck/Schering-Plough and Genentech. He also served on speakers' bureaus for Genentech. 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 Fasiha Kanwal , Bruce R. Bacon , and Steven M. Asch Quality of Care in Patients With Chronic Hepatitis C Virus Infection Don C. Rockey Metrics 1 February 2011Volume 154, Issue 3Page: 213-214KeywordsAlcoholsDrugsHealth care qualityHealth insuranceInfectious hepatitisMedical risk factorsPatientsResearch design ePublished: 1 February 2011 Issue Published: 1 February 2011 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2011 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...