Treatment records were kept by a single nurse who recorded all HC

Treatment records were kept by a single nurse who recorded all HCV-related laboratory and pathology findings; she completed a flow sheet summarizing adverse reactions and changes in interferon MG-132 molecular weight and ribavirin dose for each patient at each visit to the GI department. Visits were scheduled at weeks 1-2 and at least every 4 weeks thereafter. Study measures extracted from these records included genotype (2 and 3 versus 1, 4, and 6), pretreatment viral load (<600,000 versus >600,000 IU/mL), and Metavir stage 3 or 4 (advanced fibrosis) versus stages 0-2 (not advanced). Stage was determined by histology, but in the absence of a liver biopsy, patients were also considered to have advanced fibrosis if they had a platelet count <110,000,

serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST)>ALT (serum alanine aminotransferase), and splenomegaly. Records contained data on all premature treatment discontinuations, including date and reason PD0332991 price (i.e., adverse reactions to treatment or noncompliance). Treatment that was appropriately stopped because of early nonresponse was coded as failure to obtain an SVR, not treatment discontinuation. Also extracted were data on ETR and SVR. Relations of known host and viral risk factors and pretreatment patterns of alcohol intake to SVR were examined using chi-square statistics for cross-tabulations. Cross-tabulation

analyses were also conducted to detect potentially confounding relationships between host and viral risk factors and patterns of alcohol intake. Multiple logistic regression analyses were used to determine the independent contributions of host, viral, and alcohol risk factors to SVR failure. Comparison of eligible patients who were and were not interviewed revealed that interviewed MCE patients tended to have somewhat higher SVR rates (60.6% versus 55.4%; P = 0.304) and were somewhat more likely to have a chemical dependency diagnosis mentioned in their medical record (30.9% versus 26.6%;

P = 0.357), or a record of recent treatment for chemical dependency (7.7% versus 4.5%; P = 0.207), but none of these differences were statistically significant. Cohort host, viral, and alcohol-related risk factors are characterized in Table 1 as they relate to SVR. Age and sex were not significantly related to SVR. SVR rates were significantly lower in patients with the following risk factors: a racial/ethnic background other than white non-Hispanic, pretreatment viral load ≥600,000 IU, HCV genotypes 1, 4, or 6, advanced fibrosis, or treatment discontinuation. However, no significant effect on SVR rates was associated with moderate or heavy drinking or with failure to abstain 6 months before treatment. Analyses investigating relations between host and viral risk factors and pretreatment alcohol measures are summarized in Tables 2 and 3. Pretreatment alcohol intake, categorized as total kg of ethanol consumed, is examined in Table 2. Sixty-three percent of patients reported drinking more than 100 kg of ethanol before HCV treatment.

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