title: An empirical study of alcohol consumption by patients considering HCV treatment.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Alcohol accelerates the course of hepatitis C (HCV) infection and liver damage. Little is known about recency of alcohol use among patients with HCV.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Alcohol consumption recency was compared among HCV patients with and without alcohol use disorders and current and lifetime alcohol use histories.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients considering antiviral treatment for HCV (n = 309) recruited from university-affiliated and VA liver and infectious disease clinics were assessed for lifetime and current-year psychiatric disorders and alcohol-use patterns. Full diagnostic interviews, self-report surveys, medical record review, and urine screening for recent alcohol and drug use were conducted.
  
  
  RESULTS
  60% used alcohol in the last year. Besides alcohol history, those who stopped using alcohol in the past year differed from those with no lifetime use only in gender (60% vs. 22%); however, patients no longer using alcohol in the last year were less likely than those still using to have a current drug use disorder (16% vs. 3%) or last-month drug use (52% vs. 30%), and had fewer current risky behaviors (1.3 vs. 0.6). Among patients with last-year alcohol use, those with past alcohol use disorders differed from those without only by higher prevalence of drug use disorder (84% vs. 47%) and drug use after HCV diagnosis (67% vs. 43%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Patients who had stopped using alcohol for at least a year were much like those who never used alcohol in regard to other drug use, psychiatric history, smoking, and risky behaviors. These findings indicate that HCV patients with at least a year of abstinence from alcohol, including those with a history of alcohol use disorder, should be considered HCV treatment candidates.
authors.affiliation: VA North Texas Health Care System and The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Departments of Psychiatry and Surgery/Division of Emergency Medicine , Dallas , TX, USA.
authors.forename: Carol S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: North
authors.forename: Omar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Sims
authors.forename: Barry A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.forename: Mamta K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Jain
authors.forename: Geri
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: Mauricio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lisker-Melman
authors.forename: David E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Pollio
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000453:epidemiology*; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012737:Sex Factors; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents
keywords: Alcohol consumption patterns; alcohol use disorder; drug use; hepatitis C; liver damage