Reports from University of North Carolina Highlight Recent Findings in HIV/AIDS (Health Insurance and Initiation of Direct-acting Antivirals for Hepatitis C In Us Women With Human Immunodeficiency Virus): Immune System Diseases and Conditions – HIV/AIDS

2023 JUN 20 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- A new study on Immune System Diseases and Conditions - HIV/AIDS is now available. According to news reporting from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, “Direct-acting antiviral (DAA) therapy for hepatitis C virus (HCV) is well tolerated, cost-effective, and yields high sustained virologic response rates, yet it has remained financially inaccessible to many patients. Participants of the Women’s Interagency HIV Study (an observational US cohort) with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and HCV (RNA+) reporting no prior hepatitis C treatment were followed for DAA initiation (2015-2019).”

Funders for this research include National Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA, NIH National Heart Lung & Blood Institute (NHLBI), NIH National Institute on Aging (NIA), NIH Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD), National Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA, Johns Hopkins University CFAR, NIH National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases (NIAID), NIH National Institute of Neurological Disorders & Stroke (NINDS), NIH National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), NIH National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), NIH National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR), NIH National Cancer Institute (NCI), NIH National Institute on Alcohol Abuse & Alcoholism (NIAAA), NIH National Institute on Deafness & Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), NIH National Institute of Diabetes & Digestive & Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), NIH National Institute on Minority Health & Health Disparities (NIMHD).

The news correspondents obtained a quote from the research from the University of North Carolina, “We estimated risk ratios (RRs) of the relationship between time-varying health insurance status and DAA initiation, adjusting for confounders with stabilized inverse probability weights. We also estimated weighted cumulative incidences of DAA initiation by health insurance status. A total of 139 women (74% Black) were included; at baseline, the median age was 55 years and 86% were insured. Most had annual household incomes <=$18 000 (85%); advanced liver fibrosis (21%), alcohol use (45%), and recreational drug use (35%) were common. Across 439 subsequent semiannual visits, 88 women (63%) reported DAA initiation. Compared with no health insurance, health insurance increased the likelihood of reporting DAA initiation at a given visit (RR, 4.94; 95% confidence limit [CL], 1.92 to 12.8). At 2 years, the weighted cumulative incidence of DAA initiation was higher among the insured (51.2%; 95% CL, 43.3% to 60.6%) than the uninsured (3.5%; 95% CL, 0.8% to 14.6%). Accounting for clinical, behavioral, and sociodemographic factors over time, health insurance had a substantial positive effect on DAA initiation. Interventions to increase insurance coverage should be prioritized to increase HCV curative therapy uptake for persons with HIV.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “Among US women with human immunodeficiency virus and hepatitis C virus, health insurance had a substantial positive effect on the initiation of direct-acting antiviral therapy.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Health Insurance and Initiation of Direct-acting Antivirals for Hepatitis C In Us Women With Human Immunodeficiency Virus. Clinical Infectious Diseases, 2023. Clinical Infectious Diseases can be contacted at: Oxford Univ Press Inc, Journals Dept, 2001 Evans Rd, Cary, NC 27513, USA. (Oxford University Press - http://www.oup.com/; Clinical Infectious Diseases - cid.oxfordjournals.org)

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Andrew Edmonds, University of North Carolina, Gillings School of Global Public Health, Dept. of Epidemiology, 123 W Franklin St, Ste 3211, Chapel Hill, NC 27516, United States. Additional authors for this research include Jessie K. Edwards, Adaora A. Adimora, Danielle F. Haley, Catalina Ramirez, Audrey L. French, Phyllis C. Tien, Michael Plankey, Anjali Sharma, Michael Augenbraun, Eric C. Seaberg, Kimberly Workowski, Maria L. Alcaide and Svenja Albrecht.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciad204. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

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