Pegylated interferon α-2b plus ribavirin for older patients with chronic hepatitis C

Table 3 The comparison of the rate of sustained virological response of patients with genotype 1 receiving a dose of 80% or more of pegylated interferon α-2b plus 60% or more of ribavirin and the reduced dosage group n (%)

	Male		Female		Total
	n	SVR	n	SVR	n	SVR
Group A
Minimum acceptable	168	116 (69.0)	110	69 (62.7)	278	185 (66.5)
Reduced	206	73 (35.4)	201	66 (32.8)	407	139 (34.2)
Total	374	189 (50.5)	311	135 (43.4)	685	324 (47.3)
Group B
Minimum acceptable	31	15 (48.4)	31	13 (41.9)	62	28 (45.2)
Reduced	91	18 (19.8)	100	12 (12.0)	191	30 (15.7)
Total	122	33 (27.0)	131	25 (19.1)	253	58 (22.9)

Minimum acceptable: patients who received 80% or more of the target dose of pegylated interferon (IFN) α-2b and 60% or more of ribavirin (RBV). Reduced: Patients who received less than 80% of pegylated IFN α-2b and less than 60% of RBV. SVR: Sustained virological response.