Viral Hepatitis C re-engagement
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Viral Hepatitis C re-engagement: Barriers and facilitators among individuals diagnosed with Viral Hepatitis
IRAS ID
328384
Contact name
Carina Hoerst
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
UKHSA
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 2 days
Research summary
Despite the introduction of highly effective and well-tolerated directly acting antivirals (DAAs) for Hepatitis C virus (HCV), many individuals with a historic HCV infection in England have potentially been lost to care. Since the availability of DAAs, re-engaging these patients has formed an important component of the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Health Strategy for the elimination of viral hepatitis by 2030.
The primary concern of this research study will be an exploration of currently ongoing HCV re-engagement efforts in England which have in part been informed by a historic national re-engagement exercise: Following the introduction of DAAs, a national patient re-engagement exercise was launched in September 2018 by Public Health England (PHE, now UK Health Security Agency, UKHSA) and NHS England (NHSE). NHS Operational Delivery Networks (ODNs), that are specialised in HCV care, were tasked to execute the exercise. The aim of the exercise was to find and treat the people who had historically been diagnosed with HCV, but for whom there was no follow-up record or outcome data.
This research study will interview individuals who are known to have been contacted by ODNs in order to be re-engaged with HCV care (in the context of recent or historic efforts to re-engage) to understand the barriers and facilitators individuals experienced. Re-engagement, in this study, is understood as engagement with HCV care (testing, treatment) after a period of not having done so despite initial diagnosis and/ or receiving further invitations to get tested and treated. In particular, this investigation will explore a) why/ why not HCV-positive individuals engaged with the offer to get tested for HCV, and why/ why not they engaged with HCV treatment where needed, and b) whether there are differences between individuals that were diagnosed with HCV prior to and after the introduction of DAA treatment to explore whether experiences are similar or may have changed. Where there is potential to extract some information about the historic re-engagement exercise (i.e., barriers and facilitators to invitations to testing/ treatment received in the context of the exercise), we will seek to extract this, too. The results will help optimise re-engagement strategies. Lessons learned will be disseminated through academic and public health networks, through peer-reviewed publications, and publicly available reports and materials.
REC name
East of Scotland Research Ethics Service REC 1
REC reference
24/ES/0071
Date of REC Opinion
6 Nov 2024
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion