Purpose

To determine the burden of hepatitis C virus (HCV) by evaluating:

  1. The impact of successful treatment with new direct-acting antiviral agents (DAAs) on health-related quality of life (HRQL) and utilities in chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients;
  2. HRQL and utilities in patients with late stage disease (hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), compensated cirrhosis (CC) and decompensated cirrhosis (DC));
  3. Productivity loss and out-of-pocket costs associated with HCV treatment with DAAs and outcomes

Research Questions

  1. What is the impact of the new DAA treatment regimens on HRQL, utilities, and indirect costs?
  2. What are the HRQL, utilities, and indirect costs in patients with late stage CHC (CC, HCC, and DC)?
  3. What are the out-of-pocket costs, and time costs for time periods associated with CHC patients without cirrhosis or HCC; CHC patients with HCC; and CHC patients with compensated cirrhosis or decompensated cirrhosis?

Design and Methods

A three-year, pan-Canadian, multi-centre (Calgary, Montreal, and Toronto), two-component study using self-reported questionnaires:

Component 1: A longitudinal prospective study to evaluate the change in health-related quality of life (HRQL) and utilities with the new HCV treatment regimens.
Component 2: A cross-sectional study to assess HRQL and utilities in Chronic Hepatitis C (CHC) patients with late stage disease (hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), compensated cirrhosis (CC) and decompensated cirrhosis (DC)).

Inclusion Criteria

Component 1 Cohort: A diagnosis of CHC and scheduled for treatment with a DAA, with or without prior treatment.
Component 2 Cohort: A diagnosis of CHC with HCC, or CHC with CC/DC.

Exclusion Criteria

• Unable or unwilling to provide informed consent
• Cognitive or mental health disorder impeding comprehension and completion of questionnaires
• Life expectancy of less than six months.

Progress

We have started recruitment at the University Health Network and at the Liver Unit of the University of Calgary.

Study Timeline

April 2017 – June 2019

Research Team

William Wong, PhD
Murray Krahn, MD, MSc, FRCPC
Julie Bruneau, MD, MSc
Jordan Feld, MD, MPH
Samuel Lee, MD
Jeff Powis, MD, FRCPC
Lusine Abrahamyan, PhD
Karen Bremner, BSc
Zeny Feng, PhD
Karen Lee, MA
Nicholas Mitsakakis, MSc, PhD
Petros Pechlivanoglou, PhD
Valeria Rac, MD, PhD
Beate Sander, PhD, MEcDev, MBA, RN
Bryna Warshawsky, MD, FRCPC
Kate Mason, MHSc
Arcturus Phoon
Yasmin Saeed, PhD (Candidate)
Josephine Wong, MD

Funding

CIHR Project Grant

Publications / Presentations