Pegylated interferon alfa-2b pen device and ribavirin treatment for patients with chronic hepatitis C: an evaluation of patient satisfaction.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to evaluate the satisfaction of patients with chronic hepatitis C who used the pegylated interferon α-2b pen device.


METHODS
Patients from multiple centers in Greece were recruited to participate in this noninterventional, observational study. Patients received pen device training for at least 6 weeks before treatment and used questionnaires to provide feedback (rating scale: 1-4, negative; 5-7, positive) on training, medication preparation and injection, and appreciation of the device. Results were analyzed with standard statistical analysis and multivariate logistic regression.


RESULTS
In total, 507 patients (mean age, 43.5 years), 77.4% of whom were treatment naive, participated in the study. Overall, 84.2% of patients rated training positively, 67.4% of patients rated medication preparation positively, and 88.3% of patients rated medication injection positively. Appreciation of the pen device treatment method was rated positively by 82.2% of patients. Intravenous drug users were more likely to rate medication injection positively (P=0.0284) and to appreciate this method of drug delivery (P=0.0328) than other patients. Patients with lower levels of education were less likely to rate training positively (P=0.0202) and showed less appreciation for this route of drug delivery (P=0.0341) than other patients. Treatment-naive patients were more likely to provide positive responses about the overall procedure than were treatment-experienced patients (odds ratio: 1.932; P=0.032). Adverse events were reported by 6.4% (29 of 453) of patients.


CONCLUSIONS
Patients were satisfied with the pegylated interferon α-2b pen device; therefore, good treatment adherence is expected with its use.
First Internal Medicine Department, General Hospital of West Attica St. Varvara, 12351, Athens, Greece. aggtigapar@yahoo.gr
Paraskevi
P
Aggelopoulou-Tiga
Dimitrios
D
Dimitroulopoulos
Konstantinos
K
Kaligeros
Sotirios
S
Koutsounas
Elias
E
Kouroumalis
Helen
H
Diamanti
Panagiota
P
Ionnidou
Jannis
J
Kountouras
Christos
C
Papaioannou
Maria
M
Dimopoulou
Grigoris
G
Giannoulis
Ioannis
I
Ketikoglou
Andreas
A
Protopapas
Harry
H
Bassaris
Vassilios
V
Delis
Stylianos
S
Karatapanis
Spilios
S
Manolakopoulos
Konstantinos
K
Mimidis
Antonios
A
Nikolaou
Konstantinos
K
Thomopoulos
Georgios
G
Tzelas
Epameinodas
E
Tsianos
Maria
M
Kardasi
Antonios
A
Perperas
D000328:Adult; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007267:Injections / Q000295:instrumentation*; D000077190:Interferon alpha-2; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D012254:Ribavirin / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
D000998:Antiviral Agents; D000077190:Interferon alpha-2; D016898:Interferon-alpha; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols; D012254:Ribavirin; C417083:peginterferon alfa-2b