Abstract
Summary
This summary explains what both people living with hepatitis C and doctors think is meaningful when treating hepatitis C in Japan. We asked people living with hepatitis C and doctors about their opinions on hepatitis C treatment using a questionnaire.
“What do people living with hepatitis C in Japan and their doctors consider most meaningful when choosing treatment?”
Understanding what people living with hepatitis C and doctors value when choosing hepatitis C treatment may help support continuing treatment, which is important for eliminating hepatitis C.
Among 95 people living with hepatitis C and 118 doctors, both groups thought that the total out-of-pocket costs for hepatitis C treatment was the most meaningful thing. Safety was ranked as the next most meaningful thing. People living with hepatitis C were more concerned about costs for treatment and less concerned about side-effect risks than doctors.
People living with hepatitis C cared more about the number of tablets they had to take each day than the duration of treatment. For doctors, both were about the same.
For people living with hepatitis C, treatment costs are the most important concern. Improving awareness of Japan’s financial assistance programs may help reduce out-of-pocket costs for hepatitis C treatment, thereby making it easier for people living with hepatitis C to receive treatment. Providing care that is adjusted to the situations, concerns, and treatment goals of people living with hepatitis C may help reduce barriers and gaps in hepatitis C treatment. Simple treatment options, such as one pill a day and/or minimized hospital visits during treatment course can make hepatitis C treatment more accessible. Good communication between people living with hepatitis C and doctors may help them make treatment decisions together, based on clear explanations of options and what matters most to people living with hepatitis C. In 2016, the World Health Organization (WHO) set a goal to eliminate HCV as a public health threat by 2030. These efforts will support achieving the goal in Japan.
Supplemental Material
sj-pdf-1-tag-10.1177_17562848261452508 – Supplemental material for Patient and physician preferences for treatment of hepatitis C virus infection in Japan: a discrete choice experiment: plain language summary of publication
Supplemental material, sj-pdf-1-tag-10.1177_17562848261452508 for Patient and physician preferences for treatment of hepatitis C virus infection in Japan: a discrete choice experiment: plain language summary of publication by Daisuke Nakamoto, Yi Piao, Manami Yoshida, Michael LoPresti, Dilip Makhija, Kyung min Kwon, Jamie Zagorski, Masahisa Jinushi and Yuichiro Eguchi in Therapeutic Advances in Gastroenterology
Footnotes
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank everyone who took part in this study. Hajime Mizutani provided scientific input during the planning and implementation of this study as the liver therapeutic area director at Medical Affairs, Gilead Sciences K.K. We also appreciate the contributions of Yunosuke Chikamura (INTAGE Healthcare Inc.) for his support in data curation and analysis and preparation of the original manuscript. We additionally thank Ryosuke Nishi of the HEOR Group, Value & Access Department, INTAGE Healthcare Inc., for reviewing the manuscript for accuracy. Medical writing support was provided by Mizuko Osaka, PhD (SunFlare Co., Ltd.) and was funded by Gilead Sciences K.K.
Ethics approval and consent to participate
The study was conducted in accordance with a protocol that was created before starting the study, ICH guidelines, applicable regulations and guidelines governing clinical study conduct, and ethical principles that have their origin in the Declaration of Helsinki. The study was reviewed and approved by the Medical Corporation TOUKEIKAI Kitamachi Clinic ERB (no. KXJ09970) before the online survey was conducted. All participants provided informed consent for participation in this study.
Funding
This study was funded by Gilead Sciences K.K. and Gilead Sciences, Inc.
Competing interests
D Nakamoto, Y Piao, M Yoshida and M Jinushi are employees of Gilead Sciences K.K. D Makhija, K Kwon, and J Zagorski are employees of Gilead Sciences, Inc. M LoPresti is an employee of INTAGE Healthcare Inc., which received funding from Gilead Sciences K.K. for support with implementation of the study. Y Eguchi reports no competing interests to declare.
Availability of data and materials
The data are not publicly available because they were obtained with participant consent exclusively for use in this study
Supplementary Material
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