TY - JOUR
T1 - Missed linkage to care for patients who screened positive for Hepatitis C in a tertiary care centre
T2 - Results of the Telepass project
AU - Ponziani, Francesca Romana
AU - Santopaolo, Francesco
AU - Siciliano, Massimo
AU - De Belvis, Antonio Giulio
AU - Tortora, Annalisa
AU - Mora, Vincenzina
AU - Fanali, Caterina
AU - Morsella, Alisha
AU - Balducci, Fulvio
AU - Vetrugno, Giuseppe
AU - D’Alfonso, Maria Elena
AU - Cambieri, Andrea
AU - Cauda, Roberto
AU - Bellantone, Rocco
AU - Sanguinetti, Maurizio
AU - Pompili, Maurizio
AU - Gasbarrini, Antonio
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 John Wiley & Sons Ltd
PY - 2021/4
Y1 - 2021/4
N2 - Italy is one of the countries on track with the WHO’s agenda to eliminate hepatitis C virus (HCV) by 2030. Healthcare facilities play a crucial role in seeking patients who are infected but have not yet been treated. We assessed the effectiveness of a recall strategy, named ‘Telepass’ project, for patients exposed to HCV infection who have not yet been linked to care in a large tertiary care centre. The ‘Telepass’ project was structured in two phases: (a) a retrospective analysis first identified all anti–HCV-positive subjects among patients who underwent pre-operative assessment in the facility in the course of one year; (b) a following prospective phase, aimed to recall patients in need either of further diagnostic tests (ie HCV-RNA) or treatment. A total of 12246 records of patients tested for HCV antibodies were reviewed. The overall prevalence of anti–HCV-positive subjects was 1.83% (224/12246) with a male/female ratio of 2.07. Out of the 224 anti–HCV-positive patients, 123 (54.91%) did not have documented HCV-RNA tests and were therefore selected for recall. Of these, 123 were reachable and 26 (21.13%) were successfully linked to care. Ten patients (38.46%) tested HCV-RNA positive and initiated treatment with direct-acting antivirals (DAAs). The Telepass study highlights that a recall strategy starting from internal hospital databases can help identify patients with chronic HCV infection who have not yet been linked to care, and provides an epidemiological insight into the prevalence of HCV infection in Italy in the late DAAs era.
AB - Italy is one of the countries on track with the WHO’s agenda to eliminate hepatitis C virus (HCV) by 2030. Healthcare facilities play a crucial role in seeking patients who are infected but have not yet been treated. We assessed the effectiveness of a recall strategy, named ‘Telepass’ project, for patients exposed to HCV infection who have not yet been linked to care in a large tertiary care centre. The ‘Telepass’ project was structured in two phases: (a) a retrospective analysis first identified all anti–HCV-positive subjects among patients who underwent pre-operative assessment in the facility in the course of one year; (b) a following prospective phase, aimed to recall patients in need either of further diagnostic tests (ie HCV-RNA) or treatment. A total of 12246 records of patients tested for HCV antibodies were reviewed. The overall prevalence of anti–HCV-positive subjects was 1.83% (224/12246) with a male/female ratio of 2.07. Out of the 224 anti–HCV-positive patients, 123 (54.91%) did not have documented HCV-RNA tests and were therefore selected for recall. Of these, 123 were reachable and 26 (21.13%) were successfully linked to care. Ten patients (38.46%) tested HCV-RNA positive and initiated treatment with direct-acting antivirals (DAAs). The Telepass study highlights that a recall strategy starting from internal hospital databases can help identify patients with chronic HCV infection who have not yet been linked to care, and provides an epidemiological insight into the prevalence of HCV infection in Italy in the late DAAs era.
KW - case finding
KW - DAA
KW - HCV
KW - linkage to care
KW - Telepass
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U2 - 10.1111/jvh.13465
DO - 10.1111/jvh.13465
M3 - Article
C2 - 33421220
AN - SCOPUS:85099761187
VL - 28
SP - 651
EP - 656
JO - Journal of Viral Hepatitis
JF - Journal of Viral Hepatitis
SN - 1352-0504
IS - 4
ER -