Substance Use Experiences and Hepatitis C Treatment Decision-Making Among HIV/HCV Co-infected Adults: A Dissertation

Abstract

Substance Use Experiences and Hepatitis C Treatment Decision-Making Among HIV/HCV Co-infected Adults 2007 Lisa Marie Fink Ogawa, BS, University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio MS, University of Massachusetts, Worcester PhD, University of Massachusetts, Worcester Directed by Dr. Carol Bova Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection affects between 150,000 to 300,000 human immunodeficiency (HIV) positive adults in the US (Alter et al., 1999; Sherman, Rouster, Chung, & Rajicic, 2002). The majority of co-infected adults (50%-90%) have acquired HCV through substance abuse (Centers for Disease Control [CDC], 1998; CDC, 2006b). A patient’s decision to begin HCV treatment is not straightforward. HCV evaluation and treatment involves a significant amount of time, energy, effort, and compliance on the part of the patient. There is limited information on how adults with HCV mono-infection make decisions about HCV evaluation and treatment (Fraenkel, McGraw, Wongcharatraee, & Garcia-Tsao, 2005). Even less is known about how adults with HIV/HCV co-infection with a history of substance abuse make treatment decisions. The purpose of this study was to describe substance abuse experiences and to explore how these related to patient decision-making about HCV treatment in HIV/HCV co-infected adults. Qualitative descriptive design and secondary data analysis were used to study these phenomena. Data were managed by using NVivo software and analyzed by secondary data analysis and qualitative content analysis.