Abstract | BACKGROUND: Treatment refusal, defined as active refusal of a patient to receive treatment despite physician recommendations, has not been extensively evaluated before in hepatitis C virus in the era of direct acting antivirals. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the reasons for refusal to receive hepatitis C virus treatment in Egypt. METHODS: an observational study conducted between July 2018 and November 2019 in Egypt. Enrollment was done to all patients who refused to get hepatitis C virus treatment during the national screening and treatment campaign. Reasons for their refusal were identified using a questionnaire as an instrument for data collection. RESULTS: Out of the 220 280 Egyptian hepatitis C virus patients who did not show up to start treatment and were contacted to get therapy, only 84 patients (0.038%) refused to receive treatment. The main reason for their refusal was having concerns about treatment (82.14%) and their main concern was the fear of adverse events (85.5%). Other causes of refusal were non-satisfactory experience at treatment centers (13.09%) and patients preferred to receive complementary and alternative medicines (4.7%). Most patients (65.4%) trusted the efficacy of directly acting antivirals for hepatitis C. None of the study participants was found to suffer from any psychiatric morbidity and the average score of the GHQ-12 was 10.7155. CONCLUSION: Proper health education and awareness regarding hepatitis C virus treatment safety and efficacy is needed to increase treatment acceptance rates.
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Authors | Mohamed B Hashem, Hedy A Badary, Noha A Mahfouz, Shaden Adel, Mohamed Alboraie, Mohamed AbdAllah, Wafaa AlAkel, Ramy Saeed, Islam Ammar, Wael Abdel-Razek, Mohamed Hassany, Gamal Esmat |
Journal | Journal of public health (Oxford, England)
(J Public Health (Oxf))
Vol. 45
Issue 1
Pg. 214-217
(03 14 2023)
ISSN: 1741-3850 [Electronic] England |
PMID | 34651189
(Publication Type: Observational Study, Journal Article)
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Copyright | © The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Faculty of Public Health. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: [email protected]. |
Chemical References |
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Topics |
- Humans
- Antiviral Agents
(therapeutic use)
- Hepacivirus
- Egypt
(epidemiology)
- Hepatitis C, Chronic
(drug therapy)
- Hepatitis C
(drug therapy)
- Treatment Outcome
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