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Abstract

Objective:

This study examined whether serious mental illness is associated with initiating and with completing sofosbuvir-based treatment for hepatitis C virus (HCV) among veterans who started treatment after the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) received expanded funding for HCV care.

Methods:

Administrative health care data from fiscal years 2016–2017 revealed 4,288 treatment-naïve patients with HCV, of whom 1,311 had initiated sofosbuvir-based treatment. Dependent variables were initiation and completion of ≥8 weeks of sofosbuvir treatment. Associations with serious mental illness were estimated with adjusted odds ratios from multivariable logistic regression analyses.

Results:

No statistically significant differences were found in the proportion of veterans with and veterans without serious mental illness who initiated (p=0.628) or completed ≥8 weeks (p=0.301) of sofosbuvir treatment.

Conclusions:

Veterans with and without serious mental illness initiated and completed sofosbuvir treatment at similar rates. The VA should continue to provide equitable access to HCV treatments and support medication adherence.

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Information & Authors

Information

Published In

Go to Psychiatric Services
Go to Psychiatric Services
Psychiatric Services
Pages: 192 - 195
PubMed: 31615365

History

Received: 3 May 2019
Revision received: 9 August 2019
Accepted: 21 August 2019
Published online: 16 October 2019
Published in print: February 01, 2020

Keywords

  1. Veterans issues
  2. Serious mental illness
  3. Hepatitis C
  4. Direct-acting antiviral treatment

Authors

Details

Letitia E. Travaglini, Ph.D. [email protected]
Veterans Affairs (VA) Capitol Healthcare Network (VISN 5) Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center (MIRECC), Baltimore (Travaglini, Kreyenbuhl, Brown, Goldberg); Division of Psychiatric Services Research, Department of Psychiatry (Kreyenbuhl, Goldberg, Fang, Slade), and Department of Epidemiology and Public Health (Brown), University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore; VA Maryland Health Care System, Baltimore (Graydon); Department of Psychiatry, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Lexington (Himelhoch); Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing, Baltimore (Slade).
Julie Kreyenbuhl, Pharm.D., Ph.D.
Veterans Affairs (VA) Capitol Healthcare Network (VISN 5) Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center (MIRECC), Baltimore (Travaglini, Kreyenbuhl, Brown, Goldberg); Division of Psychiatric Services Research, Department of Psychiatry (Kreyenbuhl, Goldberg, Fang, Slade), and Department of Epidemiology and Public Health (Brown), University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore; VA Maryland Health Care System, Baltimore (Graydon); Department of Psychiatry, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Lexington (Himelhoch); Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing, Baltimore (Slade).
Meagan Graydon, Ph.D.
Veterans Affairs (VA) Capitol Healthcare Network (VISN 5) Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center (MIRECC), Baltimore (Travaglini, Kreyenbuhl, Brown, Goldberg); Division of Psychiatric Services Research, Department of Psychiatry (Kreyenbuhl, Goldberg, Fang, Slade), and Department of Epidemiology and Public Health (Brown), University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore; VA Maryland Health Care System, Baltimore (Graydon); Department of Psychiatry, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Lexington (Himelhoch); Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing, Baltimore (Slade).
Clayton H. Brown, Ph.D.
Veterans Affairs (VA) Capitol Healthcare Network (VISN 5) Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center (MIRECC), Baltimore (Travaglini, Kreyenbuhl, Brown, Goldberg); Division of Psychiatric Services Research, Department of Psychiatry (Kreyenbuhl, Goldberg, Fang, Slade), and Department of Epidemiology and Public Health (Brown), University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore; VA Maryland Health Care System, Baltimore (Graydon); Department of Psychiatry, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Lexington (Himelhoch); Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing, Baltimore (Slade).
Richard Goldberg, Ph.D.
Veterans Affairs (VA) Capitol Healthcare Network (VISN 5) Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center (MIRECC), Baltimore (Travaglini, Kreyenbuhl, Brown, Goldberg); Division of Psychiatric Services Research, Department of Psychiatry (Kreyenbuhl, Goldberg, Fang, Slade), and Department of Epidemiology and Public Health (Brown), University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore; VA Maryland Health Care System, Baltimore (Graydon); Department of Psychiatry, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Lexington (Himelhoch); Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing, Baltimore (Slade).
Seth Himelhoch, M.D., M.P.H.
Veterans Affairs (VA) Capitol Healthcare Network (VISN 5) Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center (MIRECC), Baltimore (Travaglini, Kreyenbuhl, Brown, Goldberg); Division of Psychiatric Services Research, Department of Psychiatry (Kreyenbuhl, Goldberg, Fang, Slade), and Department of Epidemiology and Public Health (Brown), University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore; VA Maryland Health Care System, Baltimore (Graydon); Department of Psychiatry, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Lexington (Himelhoch); Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing, Baltimore (Slade).
Li Juan Fang, M.S.
Veterans Affairs (VA) Capitol Healthcare Network (VISN 5) Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center (MIRECC), Baltimore (Travaglini, Kreyenbuhl, Brown, Goldberg); Division of Psychiatric Services Research, Department of Psychiatry (Kreyenbuhl, Goldberg, Fang, Slade), and Department of Epidemiology and Public Health (Brown), University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore; VA Maryland Health Care System, Baltimore (Graydon); Department of Psychiatry, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Lexington (Himelhoch); Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing, Baltimore (Slade).
Eric Slade, Ph.D.
Veterans Affairs (VA) Capitol Healthcare Network (VISN 5) Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center (MIRECC), Baltimore (Travaglini, Kreyenbuhl, Brown, Goldberg); Division of Psychiatric Services Research, Department of Psychiatry (Kreyenbuhl, Goldberg, Fang, Slade), and Department of Epidemiology and Public Health (Brown), University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore; VA Maryland Health Care System, Baltimore (Graydon); Department of Psychiatry, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Lexington (Himelhoch); Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing, Baltimore (Slade).

Notes

Send correspondence to Dr. Travaglini ([email protected]).

Funding Information

VISN 5 MIRECC Pilot Resource Fund

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