Theme: Social Science and Policy Research Year: 2021
Background: There has been a paradigm shift in the treatment of Hepatitis C (HCV) from the interferon-era to direct-acting antiviral (DAA) drugs. Cure of HCV for the key risk group, those with a history of injecting drug use, may provide a range of benefits to an individual’s quality of life that can be additional to that of a clinical cure. The interferon-era provided evidence that cure of HCV can be a turning point for those who use drugs, supporting a recovery journey. There remains a question if DAAs can provide the same opportunity. Methods: We employed a scoping review methodology to consider the additional non-clinical benefits that HCV cure may provide. We used the theoretical construct of recovery capital to consider how these benefits may support a recovery journey in the DAA-era. Results: Our search provided 2,148 articles, from which 33 were included in the analysis. We developed a thematic synthesis of the non-clinical outcomes identified based on the four over-arching themes of recovery capital: physical, cultural, social and human capital. Our review suggests that identity change is a constituent part of each of the recovery capital domains in relation to HCV treatment. We propose that this supports the social identity model of recovery (SIMOR) theoretical framework. Conclusion: We identified SIMOR as a mechanism through which DAAs may provide non-clinical outcomes to increase recovery capital domains. Disclosure of Interest Statement This work is part of a project grant funded by Gilead Sciences Ltd.
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