HepCATT (DTC) v1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Evaluation of interventions designed to increase diagnosis and treatment of patients with hepatitis C virus infection in drug treatment settings
IRAS ID
160581
Contact name
William L Irving
Contact email
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 0 months, 30 days
Research summary
This study will address the issue of testing for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and onward referral of newly diagnosed patients for assessment and treatment in 3 drug treatment centres(DTC).
The study will have 4 main elements:
Firstly an analysis of diagnosis and treatment rates across England using laboratory data from the Public Health England Sentinel Surveillance Study.
These data will provide a baseline against which to assess performance following introduction of an intervention (described below) aimed at increasing diagnosis and treatment. The data will be fully anonymised with only the current service providers having access to any identifiable information.
Secondly, a pilot study to assess the impact of a complex intervention within DTC aimed at increasing HCV case finding and treatment will be conducted. This will include appointment of HCV facilitators (e.g a nurse) in order to coordinate and develop education and training of drug workers, enhance patient referral, recruit and train peer support teams, advocate for the introduction of dried blood spot testing, and streamline service provision so that HCV assessment and treatment is brought as close as possible to the patient.Thirdly, qualitative methods (e.g. focus group discussions and one-to-one interviews) will be used to explore participant and deliverers' experiences and responses to the intervention, to assess whether the interventions put in place were delivered as intended, to describe the social and contextual factors shaping the intervention, testing and treatment uptake and to assess scope for transferability to other sites.
Fourthly, we will assess impact and cost-effectiveness of the interventions using a model that has been developed previously to inform NICE guidelines
REC name
East Midlands - Derby Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/EM/1279
Date of REC Opinion
8 Dec 2014
REC opinion
Unfavourable Opinion