Treatment Effectiveness of Patients with Hepatitis C in the Prisons of Southern Taiwan: A Real-life Retrospective Analysis

<strong>Objective</strong> Hepatitis C is an important risk factor for cirrhosis and liver cancer in the Taiwanese population. Domestic prisons reported a higher rate of hepatitis C infection than the national average. Efficient and effective treatment of patients with hepatitis C in prisons is required to decrease the number of infections. This study analyzed the effectiveness of hepatitis C treatment in prison patients. <strong>Design</strong> This retrospective analysis included adult patients with hepatitis C who received direct-acting antiviral agents between 2018 and 2021. <strong>Setting</strong> The special hepatitis C clinics in the two prisons were run by a medium-sized hepatitis C treatment hospital in Southern Taiwan. Three direct-acting antiviral agents, sofosbuvir/ledipasvir for 12 weeks, glecaprevir/pibrentasvir for 8 or 12 weeks, and sofosbuvir/velpatasvir for 12 weeks, were adopted based on patient characteristics. <strong>Participants</strong> 470 patients were included. <strong>Outcome measure</strong> The sustained virological response at 12 weeks after the end of treatment was compared between the different groups. <strong>Results</strong> Most of the patients were men (70.0%) with a median age of 44 years. The most prevalent hepatitis C virus genotype was genotype 1 (44.26%). A total of 240 patients (51.06%) had a history of injectable drug use; 44 (9.36%) and 71 (15.11%) patients were co-infected with hepatitis B virus and human immunodeficiency virus, respectively. Only 51 patients (10.85%) had liver cirrhosis. Most patients (98.30%) had normal renal function or no history of kidney disease. The patients had a sustained virological response achievement rate of 99.2%. <strong>Conclusion</strong> Direct-acting antiviral agents are effective for treating hepatitis C in Taiwanese prisoners.