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

Table 4 Reasons for discontinuation of pegylated interferon plus ribavirin treatment by hepatitis C virus genotype 1 patients

	Group A (age < 65 yr)		Group B (age≥65 yr)		Total
	Male (n = 374)	Female (n = 311)	Male (n = 122)	Female (n = 131)
Discontinued number	101	66	52	54	273
Adverse effects	43	31	33	28	135
General fatigue	17	7	12	11	47
Depression	3	11	4	5	23
Appetite loss	1	0	1	0	2
Rash	3	2	3	4	12
Encephalopathy	1	0	0	0	1
Neutropenia	2	0	0	0	2
Anemia	3	2	4	1	10
Thrombocytopenia	1	0	3	1	5
Elevation of ALT	1	0	0	0	1
Hyperthyroidism	3	2	0	1	6
Hypothyroidism	0	1	0	0	1
Retinopathy	1	0	1	0	2
Interstitial pneumonia	2	0	1	1	4
Pulmonary disease (others)1	0	1	1	1	3
Psychoneurotic disorder2	2	0	2	0	4
Nervous disease3	1	1	0	1	3
Autoimmune disease4	0	2	0	1	3
Metabolic disease5	0	2	0	0	2
Digestive disorder6	2	0	1	1	4
Hepatocellular carcinoma	2	0	4	1	7
Malignancy (extra-liver)	0	1	1	0	2
No effect of treatment	22	18	7	8	55
Economic problem	9	3	0	3	15
Others7	25	13	7	14	59

¹Includes pulmonary tuberculosis (n = 1), pneumonia (n = 1), tuberculous pleuritis (n = 1);

²Includes psychiatric disorder (n = 2), disquiet (n = 1), insomnia (n = 1);

³Includes nerve paralysis (n = 1), cerebral infarction (n = 1);

⁴Includes rheumatoid arthritis (n = 2), myasthenia gravis (n = 1);

⁵Includes diabetes mellitus (n = 1), hypertriglycemia (n = 1);

⁶Includes cholecystitis (n = 3), pancreatitis (n = 1);

⁷Includes 25, 13, 6 and 13 drop-outs from groups A, B, C and D, respectively: One for excessive alcohol consumption in group C and one was nursing in group D. ALT: Alanine aminotransferase.