Önlen, YusufBal, TayibeÇabalak, MehmetÇuvalcı, Nefise ÖztoprakSarı, Nagehan DidemCan, GüraySırmatel, Fatma2023-09-112023-09-112022Önlen, Y., Bal, T., Çabalak, M., Öztoprak, N. Ç., Sarı, N. D., Kurtaran, B., ... & Tabak, F. (2022). Efficacy and Safety of Direct-Acting Antivirals in Elderly Patients with Chronic Hepatitis C: A Nationwide Real-Life, Observational, Multicenter Study from Turkey. The Turkish Journal of Gastroenterology, 33(10), 862.http://dx.doi.org/10.5152/tjg.2022.21271https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12491/11688Background: The number and proportion of elderly patients living with chronic hepatitis C are expected to increase in the coming years. We aimed to compare the real-world efficacy and safety of direct-acting antiviral treatment in elderly and younger Turkish adults infected with chronic hepatitis C. Methods: In this multicenter prospective study, 2629 eligible chronic hepatitis C patients treated with direct-acting antivirals between April 2017 and December 2019 from 37 Turkish referral centers were divided into 2 age groups: elderly (>= 65 years) and younger adults (<65 years) and their safety was compared between 2 groups in evaluable population. Then, by matching the 2 age groups for demographics and pretreatment risk factors for a non-sustained virological response, a total of 1516 patients (758 in each group) and 1244 patients (622 in each group) from the modified evaluable population and per-protocol population were included in the efficacy analysis and the efficacy was compared between age groups. Results: The sustained virological response in the chronic hepatitis C patients was not affected by the age and the presence of cirrhosis both in the modified evaluable population and per-protocol population (P =.879, P =.508 for modified evaluable population and P =.058, P =.788 for per-protocol population, respectively). The results of the per-protocol analysis revealed that male gender, patients who had a prior history of hepatocellular carcinoma, patients infected with non-genotype 1 hepatitis C virus, and patients treated with sofosbuvir + ribavirin had a significantly lower sustained virological response 12 rates (P <.001, P =.047, P =.013, and P =.025, respectively). Conclusion: Direct-acting antivirals can be safely used to treat Turkish elderly chronic hepatitis C patients with similar favorable efficacy and safety as that in younger adults.eninfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessAgeChronic Hepatitis CDirect-Acting Antiviral AgentsSofosbuvir Plus RibavirinHCV InfectionHepatocellular-CarcinomaArticle10.5152/tjg.2022.212713310862873359468962-s2.0-85139571415N/A1134402WOS:000955590200007Q4