TREAT-B has Good Accuracy in Selecting HBV Infected Patients for Treatment in Sudan
Mogahid Mahmoud Elhasan
Department of Internal Medicine, Omdurman Islamic University, Khartoum, Sudan.
Omer Osman Kheir *
Research Department, National Centre for Gastrointestinal and Liver Disease, WGO, Khartoum, Sudan.
Yashwi Haresh Patwa
Research Department, National Centre for Gastrointestinal and Liver Disease, WGO, Khartoum, Sudan.
Aya Tarig Bakhit
Research Department, National Centre for Gastrointestinal and Liver Disease, WGO, Khartoum, Sudan.
Hala Ibrahim Abdalla
Hepatology Unit, Ibn Sina Specialized Hospital, Khartoum, Sudan.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Non-invasive and invasive diagnostic methods, which are not readily available in Sudan, are used to guide HBV treatment. Africa adopted the TREAT-B as a straightforward score in 2018 to identify patients in need of anti-HBV treatment.
Objective: To compare the diagnostic accuracy of the TREAT-B score to the standard scores EASL and AASLD in HBV patients.
Methods: At Ibn Sina Specialized Hospital, 108 HBV patients were enrolled in an analytical cross-sectional study (January- October 2019). Data was collected using an interviewer-administered questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS.
Results: Eight patients (7.4%) were eligible for therapy under the AASLD recommendations, 18 patients (16.7%) were suitable under the EASL guidelines, and twenty-seven patients (25%) were eligible under the TREAT-B guidelines. According to the Wald statistic, the AUROC of TREAT-B (0.883; 95% CI 0.790-0.976; Sen. 85.3%; Sp. 70.3%) was substantially higher than the AUROC of the AASLD criteria (0.722; 95% CI 0. 0.566-0.878; Sen. 74.4%; Sp. 69.8%); and lower than the AUROC of the EASL criteria (0.952; 95% CI 0.790-0.976.
Conclusion: The TREAT-B score was effective at identifying HBV-infected patients who should receive antiviral treatment.
Keywords: Hepatitis B, treatment, sensitivity and specificity, diagnostic, antiviral therapy