An interventional study of Telemedicine and Velpatasvir/Sofosbuvir in Chronic Hepatitis C, sponsored by Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre. Status unknown at 1 site in Brazil. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2021-08-25.
Sponsored by Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre · Not applicable, Interventional, and Health services research
The study is a non-randomized, single group clinical trial on monitoring hepatitis C therapy using telemedicine. Patients with chronic hepatitis C without cirrhosis will be treated with the pangenotypic regimen of direct acting antivirals sofosbuvir and velpatasvir for 12 weeks after a single visit to the clinic, in which treatment will be prescribed. Patients will be then monitored by telemedicine tools, like instant message application, telephone and video calls and by his or her primary physician when needed. Twelve weeks after treatment conclusion, hepatitis C virus RNA levels will be measured on a blood sample, indicating the cure rate and efficacy of this protocol on HCV treatment.
The primary objective of the study is to address the feasibility and applicability of the usage of telemedicine tools to increase access and monitor HCV treatment with direct-acting antivirals in public health in Brazil.
Scientific rationale
It's estimated that 0.7% of the Brazilian population is infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV). In March 2018, the Ministry of Health defined all patients with HCV to be able to receive direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) from the public health system without any charges. Though this "universal-access policy", frequently there are still many obstacles for patients to actually get at the treatment: patients living in cities distant from big centres and underserved by specialized physicians in the country, lack of medical doctors experienced in HCV treatment in the public system, delay between prescription and starting of medications because of administrative issues, and socioeconomic vulnerability among people.
Telemedicine tools are powerful ways of reaching people living distant from big centres, and there are some successful international experiences with hepatitis C treatment in this field, like Project ECHO® (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes). In Brazil, there is a national program, geographically located in Porto Alegre, that uses telemedicine to improve healthcare quality in primary care by offering continuous education and teleconsultations (by text or toll-free hotline) to community physicians and other healthcare professionals working in public primary care institutions all over the country.
Primary objective
To address the applicability of telemedicine tools to increase access and monitor HCV treatment with direct-acting antivirals in public health in Brazil.
Research methods
HCV-infected patients in the waiting list for specialized consultation with gastroenterologist or infectious disease physician will be recruited to a meeting that will consist of a HCV lecture followed by individual, focused consultation with medical history, analysis of previous lab results (including fibrosis evaluation by the AST-to-platelets ratio index - APRI) and collection of blood samples. All patients will receive a prescription of pan-genotypic DAA sofosbuvir and velpatasvir regimen for 12 weeks according to the Brazilian Ministry of Health's Treatment Protocol, along with orientations about use and potential side effects and ways to contact the telemedicine centre - mobile phone instant messages and WhatsApp® messages, phone calls and video calls. Issues regarding the administrative process will be held by the study team and medications will be delivered to each patient's city or region at the time they're available.
Before starting treatment, patients will be oriented about treatment administration, its potential side effects and ways of contacting the research team by text messages, phone calls and, when appropriate, teleconsultation by video teleconference with the patient and one of the healthcare professionals of the study. During the treatment course, adverse effects will be monitored and, when present, graded by the Division of AIDS (DAIDS) Table from the National Institutes of Health.
The family physicians working in each patient area will be oriented about this study and HCV treatment. Moreover, they will be invited to join the regular Project ECHO® meetings held by the Brazilian centre located at Porto Alegre. Healthcare professionals also have the toll-free hotline to get in touch with the telemedicine program and investigators. HCV-RNA will be collected 12 weeks after the end of therapy at a local institution next to patient home or city.
2,710 studies on the registry are indexed under Hepatitis A; 142 are open to participants now.
This study's enrollment of 144 is above the median of 100 across 1,887 interventional studies indexed under Hepatitis A.
Browse Hepatitis A studies →Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre is the lead sponsor of 450 studies on the registry; 61 are open to participants now.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
Exclusion Criteria:
Sofosbuvir 400mg and velpatasvir 100mg qd for 12 weeks Telemedicine support
Other: Telemedicine · Drug: Velpatasvir/Sofosbuvir
Telemedicine monitoring and teleconsultation by video calls
Velpatasvir 100mg / Sofosbuvir 400mg once a day for twelve weeks
Also known as: Epclusa
Sustained virologic response
Proportion of treated patients with undetectable hepatitis C virus RNA levels measured by a real time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with a lower limit of detection ≤ 12 IU/mL
Time frame: 12 weeks post end of antiviral therapy (SVR12)
Adherence to antiviral treatment
Proportion of patients with treatment completion
Time frame: 12 weeks after antiviral treatment initiation
Patient satisfaction with the treatment
Patient satisfaction with the telemedicine support measured by a a questionnaire applied to all participants
Time frame: 12 weeks post end of antiviral therapy (SVR12)
Adverse effects
Incidence of adverse effects related to treatment reported by patients
Time frame: 12 weeks post end of antiviral therapy (SVR12)
Severe adverse effects
Incidence of severe or life threatening (grade 3 or 4) adverse effects related to treatment reported by patients
Time frame: 12 weeks post end of antiviral therapy (SVR12)
Rate of primary physicians participation after invitation to project ECHO®
To address the participation rate on Project ECHO® meetings of primary care physicians who referred patients enrolled in the study
Time frame: 12 weeks post end of antiviral therapy (SVR12)
Plan to share: Yes — We plan to open data that might be useful for policy makers, specially in Brazil, and for researchers interested in replicate the study.
Supporting information: Study protocol, Csr
No publications or documents are linked to this record.
This study is status unknown, as verified in Aug 2021. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre