title: Awareness of the severity of liver disease re-examined using software-combined biomarkers of liver fibrosis and necroinflammatory activity.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Effective antiviral treatment (direct-acting antiviral agents (DAAs)), the requirement for a fibrosis score to support DDA reimbursement and a screening strategy, such as the USA baby boomer campaign, should lead to an increased awareness of liver disease severity.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To compare the awareness of liver disease severity between the USA and France, two countries with similar access to hepatitis C virus (HCV) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) treatments, similar rules for treatment reimbursement and similar availability of validated fibrosis tests, but with different policies, as France has no screening.
  
  
  METHODS
  The global database of the FibroTest-ActiTest, including 1,085,657 subjects between 2002 and 2014, was retrospectively analysed. Awareness was defined as the test prescription rate and was compared between the USA and France, according to year of birth, gender and dates of DAA availability and screening campaign (2013-2014).
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the USA 252,688 subjects were investigated for HCV, with a dramatic increase (138%) in the test rate in 2013-2014 (119,271) compared with 2011-2012 (50,031). In France 470,762 subjects were investigated (subjects with HCV and other disease) and the rates were stable. In USA 82.4% of subjects and in France 84.6% were classified as either the highest or lowest priority. The most striking difference was the higher test rate in women born between 1935 and 1944 in France 30,384/200,672 (15.1%) compared with the USA 8035/97,079 (8.3%) (OR=1.98 (95% CI 1.93 to 2.03) p<0.0001). This resulted in twice as many cases of cirrhosis being detected, 2.6% (5191/200,672 women) and 1.3% (1303/97,079), respectively, despite the same prevalence of cirrhosis in this age group (17.1% vs 16.2%) and without any clear explanation as to why they had not been included in the USA screening.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study highlighted in the USA the association between awareness of liver disease and both the HCV campaign and DAA availability. In comparison with France, there was a dramatically lower awareness of cirrhosis in the USA for women born between 1935 and 1944.
authors.affiliation: Groupe Hospitalier Pitié Salpêtrière APHP, Paris, France Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ Paris 06, UMR_S 938 and Institute of Cardiometabolism and Nutrition (ICAN), INSERM, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Thierry
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3726-7230
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Poynard
authors.affiliation: BioPredictive, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Deckmyn
authors.affiliation: BioPredictive, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Mona
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Munteanu
authors.affiliation: BioPredictive, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Yen
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ngo
authors.affiliation: BioPredictive, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Fabienne
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Drane
authors.affiliation: BioPredictive, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Jean Marie
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Castille
authors.affiliation: Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ Paris 06, UMR_S 938 and Institute of Cardiometabolism and Nutrition (ICAN), INSERM, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Chantal
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Housset
authors.affiliation: Groupe Hospitalier Pitié Salpêtrière APHP, Paris, France Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ Paris 06, UMR_S 938 and Institute of Cardiometabolism and Nutrition (ICAN), INSERM, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Vlad
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ratziu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood*; D003936:Diagnosis, Computer-Assisted; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D019694:Hepatitis B, Chronic / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy; D006801:Humans; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000821:virology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012984:Software; D014481:United States
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D015415:Biomarkers