Researchers analyzed 4,130 treatment-naive patients with chronic HBV infection who visited either a primary care physician (616 patients), community gastroenterologist (2,251 patients) or university hepatologist (1,263 patients) between 2002 and 2016.
Here’s what they found:
1. Guideline adherence was highest among patients who visited a hepatologist.
2. About 80 percent of patients visiting a hepatologist adhered to guidelines.
3. In comparison, 59.8 percent visiting gastroenterologists and 36.69 percent visiting primary care physicians adhered to guidelines.
Researchers concluded, “Such findings suggest that there remains a lack of knowledge on the availability and effectiveness of [chronic HBV] treatment, likely both at provider and patient levels. Therefore, efforts should be directed toward educating all practitioners and patients on the availability of treatment guidelines, which includes appropriate [chronic HBV] evaluation and effective antiviral therapies, which is especially important for [chronic HBV] highly prevalent communities.”
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