title: Long-term follow-up and suboptimal treatment rates of treatment-eligible chronic hepatitis B patients in diverse practice settings: a gap in linkage to care.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Despite available effective therapies, only a minority of patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) receive treatment. Our goal is to study treatment rates and time to treatment initiation in patients who meet treatment criteria on long-term follow-up.
  
  
  METHODS
  We performed a retrospective cohort study of 608 consecutive treatment-eligible patients with CHB (by 2008 US Panel or 2009 American Association for the Study of Liver Disease (AASLD) criteria) at a US community gastroenterology clinic and a university liver clinic between 2007 and 2011. Patients were observed until they started treatment or last follow-up if untreated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean age was 44 and most were Asian (96%) with community patients being younger and having lower alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels. A total of 62% started treatment, and 38% remained untreated after median follow-up of 17 months (IQR=1-40 months). Overall, treatment rate was significantly higher at university liver clinic than in the community (66.7% vs 59.9%, p=0.01). In multivariate analysis, older age (HR 1.02, p=0.002), male gender (HR 1.37, p=0.02), and baseline ALT >45 U/L for males and >29 U/L for females (HR 2.24, p<0.0001) were significant predictors of treatment initiation, but not practice setting.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Approximately 40% of treatment-eligible patients still have not started treatment on longer follow-up. Treatment rates were higher at university clinics, but practice setting was not a predictor for treatment, but older age, male gender, and higher ALT levels were. Further studies are needed to determine the barriers for treatment initiation and to improve treatment rates in treatment-eligible patients.
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology , Stanford University Medical Center , Palo Alto, California , USA.
authors.forename: Vinh D
authors.initials: VD
authors.lastname: Vu
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology , Stanford University Medical Center , Palo Alto, California , USA.
authors.forename: Ailinh
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Do
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, University of California , San Diego, California , USA.
authors.forename: Nghia H
authors.initials: NH
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology , Stanford University Medical Center , Palo Alto, California , USA.
authors.forename: Lily H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: San Jose Gastroenterology , San Jose, California , USA.
authors.forename: Huy N
authors.initials: HN
authors.lastname: Trinh
authors.affiliation: San Jose Gastroenterology , San Jose, California , USA.
authors.forename: Huy A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.affiliation: San Jose Gastroenterology , San Jose, California , USA.
authors.forename: Khanh K
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.affiliation: San Jose Gastroenterology , San Jose, California , USA.
authors.forename: My
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.affiliation: San Jose Gastroenterology , San Jose, California , USA.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Huynh
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology , Stanford University Medical Center , Palo Alto, California , USA.
authors.forename: Mindie H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Nguyen
keywords: CHRONIC HEPATITIS; HEPATITIS; HEPATITIS B