Recent scientific data revealed that the nonadherence to hepatitis B medicines increases the risk for hepatocellular carcinoma and cirrhosis followed by mortality.

Neung Hwa Park, MD, PhD, from the University of Ulsan College of Medicine in the Republic of Korea said, “Adherence appears to be a key factor in minimizing [liver-related events (LRE); Considering that poor adherence increased the risk of LREs in this study, identifying an effective medical strategy to improve adherence to medication may substantially improve clinical outcomes.”

The observational study was conducted among 894 chronic HBV patients who were given Baraclude (entecavir, Bristol-Myers Squibb) treatment for 10 years. After 10 years, only 296 patients had complete adherence; 617 patients had adherence rates lower or equal to 90%; 183 patients had between 70% to 90% adherence rates and 94 patients had adherence rate lower than 70%.

The results also showed that people younger 30 years and older than 70 years, had good adherence to medication.

Patients whose adherence was 90% or more had significantly higher rates of virologic response, compared to those whose adherence rates were less than 90%. People with low adherence showed higher risks for hepatocellular carcinoma, liver-related mortality and all-cause mortality by 2.9 fold, 14.3 fold and 5 fold respectively.

The research team further stated, “Sustained HBV viral suppression produces clinical benefits through preventing disease progression, reducing hepatic decompensation and by preventing HCC development in patients with [chronic HBV].”

“Antiviral resistance was the primary reason for treatment failure in the good adherence group, and poor adherence to medication was the primary reason for treatment failure in the poor adherence group.”