Objective: To survey practising hepatologists about their attitudes and practices regarding interferon and ribavirin combination therapy for hepatitis C (HCV) patients in Canada.
Methods: Anonymous fax and mail survey in Canada. The questionnaire consisted of two sets of questions: the likelihood (in percentage) of treating a patient with certain clinical characteristics; and opinions (Yes/No) regarding how his/her treatment decision is influenced by other factors (ie, patient age, genotype). Thirty-eight of 44 eligible participants responded to the survey with a response rate of 86.4%.
Results: Most participants indicated that they were likely to treat patients with "moderate/severe hepatitis with fibrosis" (median 80.0%), and compensated cirrhosis (median 75%). However, the participants were less willing to treat patients with coexisting conditions (median 25.0%) or mild hepatitis (median 13.8%).
Conclusions: The findings from the present study indicate that there is a substantial variation in opinion among Canadian hepatologists towards treating HCV patients. The present study, however, suggests that the survey respondents appear, in general, to adhere to the HCV treatment guidelines by the Canadian Association for Study of the Liver.