Difficulties in initiating hepatitis C treatment in patients with opioid usdisorder: Patient's perspective

© 2019, Pacini Editore S.p.A. All rights reserved. Introduction: The Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) is highly prevalent in intravenous drug users, however HCV treatment is scarce in them and there are difficulties to start it within this population. Aim: To explore the difficulties to initiate a HCV treatment from the perspective of the patient who goes to an outpatient drug addiction treatment center. Methods: A self-administered Ad Hoc questionnaire was designed to assess the reasons why the patient would not perform a treatment for HCV, then this questionnaire was administered to patients with opioid use disorder who were in an outpatient center for drug treatment. Results: 56 patients were assessed (82,1% men, 44,09 ± 8,33 years), 80,9% had a history of intravenous drug use and 76.4% had HCV. The most frequent reasons for not performing a HCV treatment were related to false beliefs and lack of information about the treatment itself. However, 72% would be interested in carrying it out. Conclusion: Given the false beliefs detected, educational interventions about the treatment of HCV in intravenous drug users should be performed.