(247) DARWIN EU® - Characterization of Patients with Chronic Hepatitis B and C

Background: The global commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN and the World Health Organization's Global Health Sector Strategy has emphasized the urgency of combatting hepatitis, necessitating comprehensive monitoring efforts.

Objectives: To characterize patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) and chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections, aligning with the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control's (ECDC) monitoring framework.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study using primary and secondary health care records from 6 European countries including France (CHUBX), United Kingdom (CPRD GOLD), Estonia (EBB), Germany (IQVIA DA Germany), Spain (IMASIS) and the Netherlands (IPCI) between 2012 and 2022. These countries/databases were part of the selected data partners for the DARWIN EU initiative. All data was standardized to the OMOP Common Data Model. To characterize patients with chronic HBV and HCV, we (1) calculated the proportion of patients initiating and undergoing treatment with interferon or any specific antivirals of interest; (2) described patient characteristics and medical history at treatment initiation and (3) calculated proportion of patient with chronic HBV and chronic HCV in the general population.

Results: During the study period, 19,352 patients with chronic HBV and 24,421 with chronic HCV were identified across six databases. Treatment initiation frequencies varied from 2.95% (CPRD GOLD) to 15.41% (EBB) in chronic HBV infection and from 3.96% (CHUBX) to 50.65% (EBB) in chronic HCV infection. Prevalent use of interferons or antivirals closely mirrored new use patterns for both infections. Common comorbidities included cardiovascular disease and diabetes mellitus for both infections, with frequently prescribed medications such as amoxicillin, paracetamol, and omeprazole. In the general population, disease proportions were low, ranging from 0.01% to 0.16% for chronic HBV and 0.01% to 0.59% for chronic HCV infection.

Conclusions: This investigation provides a comprehensive characterization of patients with chronic HBV and chronic HCV infections, emphasizing the variability in treatment initiation frequencies and comorbidities across European populations. The proportion of chronic HBV and chronic HCV remained low in the general population.