The summaries are free for public
use. The Chronic Liver Disease
Foundation will continue to add and
archive summaries of articles deemed
relevant to CLDF by the Board of
Trustees and its Advisors.
Abstract Details
Future destinations and social inclusion scoping review: how people cured of hepatitis C (HCV) using direct- acting antiviral drugs progress in a new HCV-free world
Subst Abuse Treat Prev Policy. 2022 Jun 8;17(1):45.doi: 10.1186/s13011-022-00475-1.
3School of Medicine, University of Dundee, Dundee, DD1 9SY, UK.
4NHS Tayside, Dundee, DD1 9SY, UK.
Abstract
Background: There has been a paradigm shift in the treatment of Hepatitis C (HCV) from the interferon-era to direct-acting antiviral (DAA) drugs. Cure of HCV for the key risk group, those with a history of injecting drug use, may provide a range of benefits to an individual's quality of life that can be additional to that of a clinical cure. The interferon-era provided evidence that cure of HCV can be a turning point for those who use drugs, supporting a recovery journey. There remains a question if DAAs can provide the same opportunity.
Methods: We employed a scoping review methodology to consider the additional non-clinical benefits that HCV cure may provide. We used the theoretical construct of recovery capital to consider how these benefits may support a recovery journey in the DAA-era.
Results: Our search provided 2095 articles, from which 35 were included in the analysis. We developed a thematic synthesis of the non-clinical outcomes identified based on the four over-arching themes of recovery capital: physical, cultural, social and human capital. Our review suggests that identity change is a constituent part of each of the recovery capital domains in relation to HCV treatment.
Conclusion: We identified Social Identity Model Of Recovery (SIMOR) as a mechanism through which DAAs may provide non-clinical outcomes to increase recovery capital domains. Further research is required to develop an understanding of the impact a cure of HCV with DAAs may have on identity, overall health and wellbeing and social inclusion to support recovery journeys.