TY - JOUR
T1 - An empirical study of alcohol consumption by patients considering HCV treatment
AU - North, Carol S.
AU - Sims, Omar
AU - Hong, Barry A.
AU - Jain, Mamta K.
AU - Brown, Geri
AU - Lisker-Melman, Mauricio
AU - Pollio, David E.
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors acknowledge support for this work from NIH Grant R01 AA15201 (NIAAA) to Dr North and a grant from Vertex Pharmaceuticals to Dr Jain.
Funding Information:
Dr. North discloses employment by VA North Texas Health Care System, Dallas, Texas, USA. Points of view in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Department of Veterans Affairs or the United States Government. Dr North also discloses research support from NIAAA, NIDDK, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Orthopaedic Trauma Association, and consultant fees from the University of Missouri at Columbia. Dr Jain is on the advisory board for Gilead Science and Boehringer Ingelheim. She has received research grants from AbbVie, Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Gilead Sciences, Bristol Myers-Squibb, Boehringer Ingelheim, Janssen, and Roche. The remaining authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this paper.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2014 Informa Healthcare USA, Inc. All rights reserved.
PY - 2014/11/1
Y1 - 2014/11/1
N2 - Background: Alcohol accelerates the course of hepatitis C (HCV) infection and liver damage. Little is known about recency of alcohol use among patients with HCV. Objectives: Alcohol consumption recency was compared among HCV patients with and without alcohol use disorders and current and lifetime alcohol use histories. Methods: Patients considering antiviral treatment for HCV (n=309) recruited from university-affiliated and VA liver and infectious disease clinics were assessed for lifetime and current-year psychiatric disorders and alcohol-use patterns. Full diagnostic interviews, self-report surveys, medical record review, and urine screening for recent alcohol and drug use were conducted. Results: 60% used alcohol in the last year. Besides alcohol history, those who stopped using alcohol in the past year differed from those with no lifetime use only in gender (60% vs. 22%); however, patients no longer using alcohol in the last year were less likely than those still using to have a current drug use disorder (16% vs. 3%) or last-month drug use (52% vs. 30%), and had fewer current risky behaviors (1.3 vs. 0.6). Among patients with last-year alcohol use, those with past alcohol use disorders differed from those without only by higher prevalence of drug use disorder (84% vs. 47%) and drug use after HCV diagnosis (67% vs. 43%). Conclusions: Patients who had stopped using alcohol for at least a year were much like those who never used alcohol in regard to other drug use, psychiatric history, smoking, and risky behaviors. These findings indicate that HCV patients with at least a year of abstinence from alcohol, including those with a history of alcohol use disorder, should be considered HCV treatment candidates.
AB - Background: Alcohol accelerates the course of hepatitis C (HCV) infection and liver damage. Little is known about recency of alcohol use among patients with HCV. Objectives: Alcohol consumption recency was compared among HCV patients with and without alcohol use disorders and current and lifetime alcohol use histories. Methods: Patients considering antiviral treatment for HCV (n=309) recruited from university-affiliated and VA liver and infectious disease clinics were assessed for lifetime and current-year psychiatric disorders and alcohol-use patterns. Full diagnostic interviews, self-report surveys, medical record review, and urine screening for recent alcohol and drug use were conducted. Results: 60% used alcohol in the last year. Besides alcohol history, those who stopped using alcohol in the past year differed from those with no lifetime use only in gender (60% vs. 22%); however, patients no longer using alcohol in the last year were less likely than those still using to have a current drug use disorder (16% vs. 3%) or last-month drug use (52% vs. 30%), and had fewer current risky behaviors (1.3 vs. 0.6). Among patients with last-year alcohol use, those with past alcohol use disorders differed from those without only by higher prevalence of drug use disorder (84% vs. 47%) and drug use after HCV diagnosis (67% vs. 43%). Conclusions: Patients who had stopped using alcohol for at least a year were much like those who never used alcohol in regard to other drug use, psychiatric history, smoking, and risky behaviors. These findings indicate that HCV patients with at least a year of abstinence from alcohol, including those with a history of alcohol use disorder, should be considered HCV treatment candidates.
KW - Alcohol consumption patterns
KW - Alcohol use disorder
KW - Drug use
KW - Hepatitis C
KW - Liver damage
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84911912445&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3109/00952990.2014.945592
DO - 10.3109/00952990.2014.945592
M3 - Article
C2 - 25140981
AN - SCOPUS:84911912445
VL - 40
SP - 484
EP - 489
JO - American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse
JF - American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse
SN - 0095-2990
IS - 6
ER -