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The following is a summary of “Impact of HCV cure on subsequent hospitalizations in people with mental disorders: Results from the French claims database,” published in the September 2024 issue of Psychiatry by Rolland et al.

While curing hepatitis C virus (HCV) with direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) brings benefits for the liver and beyond, there’s limited research on the effect it has on people with mental disorders (PWMDs). 

Researchers conducted a prospective study verifying if DAA treatment affected PWMDs hospitalizations in psychiatric and non-psychiatric settings.

They included all adult PWMDs who started DAA treatment between 2015 and 2018 and had data for 12 months before and after treatment. Patients were grouped by type of disorder, and a longitudinal approach was used to compare hospitalization frequency and duration one year before and after treatment. 

The results showed that a total of 17,203 individuals met the criteria. After the HCV cure, the number of patients with at least one hospitalization dropped by 28%. In non-psychiatric units, the average hospitalizations per patient per year went from 1.2 before DAA to 0.8 after (P<0.0001). In psychiatric wards, hospitalizations decreased from 1.4 to 1.2 (P=0.006). Additionally, the average stay in non-psychiatric settings reduced from 20.2 days to 16.7 days (P<0.0001). These findings were consistent and significant across all subgroups. 

Investigators concluded that curing HCV greatly reduced both the frequency and length of hospitalizations for all patients with mental disorders, including those in the psychotic disorders subgroup, during the year after treatment.

Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0165178124003172