Previous incarceration impacts access to hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment among HIV‐HCV co‐infected patients in Canada

INTRODUCTION: The prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) is far higher in prison settings than in the general population; thus, micro-elimination strategies must target people in prison to eliminate HCV. We aimed to examine incarceration patterns and determine whether incarceration impacts HCV treatment uptake among Canadian HIV-HCV co-infected individuals in the direct-acting antiviral (DAA) era. METHODS: The Canadian Co-Infection Cohort prospectively follows HIV-HCV co-infected people from 18 centres. HCV RNA-positive participants with available baseline information on incarceration history were included and followed from 21 November 2013 (when second-generation DAAs were approved by Health Canada) until 30 June 2017. A Cox proportional hazards model was used to assess the effect of time-updated incarceration status on time to treatment uptake, adjusting for patient-level characteristics known to be associated with treatment uptake in the DAA era. RESULTS: Overall, 1433 participants (1032/72% men) were included; 67% had a history of incarceration and 39% were re-incarcerated at least once. Compared to those never incarcerated, previously incarcerated participants were more likely to be Indigenous, earn <$1500 CAD/month, report current or past injection drug use and have poorly controlled HIV. There were 339 second-generation DAA treatment initiations during follow-up (18/100 person-years). Overall, 48% of participants never incarcerated were treated (27/100 person-years) compared to only 31% of previously incarcerated participants (15/100 person-years). Sustained virologic response (SVR) rates at 12 weeks were 95% and 92% respectively. After adjusting for other factors, participants with a history of incarceration (adjusted hazard ratio (aHR): 0.7, 95% CI: 0.5 to 0.9) were less likely to initiate treatment, as were those with a monthly income <$1500 (aHR: 0.7, 95% CI: 0.5 to 0.9) or who reported current injection drug use (aHR: 0.7, 95% CI: 0.4 to 1.0). Participants with undetectable HIV RNA (aHR: 2.1, 95% CI: 1.6 to 2.9) or significant fibrosis (aHR: 1.5, 95% CI: 1.2 to 1.9) were more likely to initiate treatment. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of HIV-HCV co-infected persons had a history of incarceration. Those previously incarcerated were 30% less likely to access treatment in the DAA era even after accounting for several patient-level characteristics. With SVR rates above 90%, HCV elimination may be possible if treatment is expanded for this vulnerable and neglected group.

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