https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29193603

J Viral Hepat. 2017 Nov 28. doi: 10.1111/jvh.12830. [Epub ahead of print]

Younossi ZM, Stepanova M, Schwarz KB, Wirth S, Rosenthal P, Gonzalez-Peralta R, Murray K, Henry L, Hunt S.

Abstract
Chronic HCV infection has been associated with impairment of health-related quality of life (HRQL) in both adults and pediatric patients. Our aim was to assess the HRQL of HCV-positive children treated with SOF+RBV. The data for this post-hoc analysis was collected in a phase 2 open-label multinational study that evaluated safety and efficacy of sofosbuvir (400mg/day) plus ribavirin (weight-based up to 1400mg/day) for 12 or 24 weeks in adolescents with chronic HCV (GS-US-334-1112). Patients and their parents/guardians completed the PedsQL-4.0-SF-15 questionnaire at baseline, at the end of treatment, and in post-treatment follow-up. We included 50 adolescents with HCV genotype 2 and 3 without cirrhosis (14.8±1.9 years; male: 58%; treatment-naïve: 82%; vertically transmitted HCV: 70%). After treatment, 100% of patients with HCV genotype 2 and 95% with genotype 3 achieved SVR-12. During treatment with SOF+RBV, there were no significant decrements in any of patients' self-reported or parent-proxy-reported PRO scores regardless of treatment duration (all p>0.05). After treatment cessation, we recorded a statistically significant improvement in patients' self-reported Social Functioning score by post-treatment week 12: on average, +4.8 points on a 0-100 scale (p=0.02). By post-treatment week 24, parent-proxy-reported School Functioning score increased by, on average, +13.0 points (p=0.0065). In multivariate analysis, history of abdominal pain and psychiatric disorders were predictive of impaired HRQL in adolescents with HCV (p<0.05). Adolescents with HCV do not seem to experience any HRQL decrement during treatment with SOF+RBV, and experience some improvement of their HRQL scores after achieving SVR. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

KEYWORDS:
direct-acting antiviral; emotional well-being; pediatric; physical well-being; social functioning