Table 3.
Clinical features of PWUDs matched for period of treatment.
| Variables | Before COVID-19 | During COVID-19 | p Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| N. of patients | 110 | 25 | |
| Age | 50 (46–55) | 51 (43–56) | 0.931 |
| Male | 107 (97.2) | 22 (88) | 0.042 |
| Currently employed | 61 (55.4) | 13 (52) | 0.759 |
| Ways of drug administration | |||
| intravenous | 92 (83.6) | 22 (88) | 0.946 |
| intranasal | 7 (6.3) | 1 (4) | 0.376 |
| smoke | 11 (10) | 2 (8) | 0.258 |
| Active drug users | 75 (68.2) | 16 (64) | 0.690 |
| Currently in OST | |||
| Methadone | 53 (48.2) | 13 (52) | 0.733 |
| Buprenorphine | 16 (14.5) | 3 (12) | 0.743 |
| Benzodiazepine or other psychotropic drugs | 25 (22.7) | 6 (24) | 0.131 |
| HCV Genotype | |||
| 1a | 52 (47.2) | 8 (32) | 0.171 |
| 1b | 8 (7.2) | 0 | 0.185 |
| 2 | 2 (1.8) | 1 (4) | 0.296 |
| 3 | 46 (41.8) | 11 (44) | 0.536 |
| 4 | 7 (6.3) | 0 | 0.238 |
| Stage of liver disease * | |||
| No or mild Fibrosis (F 0–1) | 71 (64.5) | 15 (60) | 0.376 |
| Moderate or advanced fibrosis (F 2–3) | 22 (20) | 5 (20) | 0.486 |
| Cirrhosis (F 4) | 17 (15.4) | 5 (20) | 0.284 |
| Diabetes mellitus type 2 | 8 (7.2) | 1 (4) | 0.476 |
| Treatment experienced with Peg-IFN + RIBA | 5 (4.5) | 0 | 0.291 |
| Adherence to treatment < 90% | 7 (6.3) | 2 (8) | 0.901 |
| Drop-out | 6 (5.4) | 0 | 0.235 |
| Treatment | |||
| Sofosbuvir + Velpatasvir 12 weeks | 48 (43.6) | 15 (60) | 0.141 |
| Glecaprevir + Pibrentasvir 8 weeks | 62 (56.3) | 10 (40) | 0.178 |
| SVR 12 | 108 (98.2) | 25 (100) | 0.501 |
Data are expressed as median (IQR) for continuous variables and n (percentage) for categorical variables. OST: opioid substitution therapy; SVR 12: Sustained Virological Response at week 12. * evaluated with transient elastography: F 0–1 (<7.1 kPa), F 2–3 (7.1–13 kPa), F 4 (>13.1 kPa).