Hepatitis B patients discontinue their medication at will

At the 16th National Conference on Viral Hepatitis and Liver Diseases of the Chinese Medical Association, it was specifically pointed out that patients with hepatitis B who do not take their medication as prescribed by their doctors will suffer from poor efficacy and recurring disease, leading to the development of cirrhosis and liver cancer. There is also a risk of liver failure leading to death if patients stop taking their medication at will. According to the epidemiological survey results published by the Health and Family Planning Commission, there are more than 90 million hepatitis B virus carriers in China, and a study published in 2012 showed that 63% of hepatitis B patients had stopped taking oral antiviral medication on their own, and 57% of them had their disease worsened after stopping the medication. The hepatitis B virus is replicating at a high rate every day in the body, and the concentration of drugs in the blood must be maintained at a certain level in order to suppress it. Patients must take their medication on time and in the right amount every day, and they must follow up on time, and they cannot stop and change their medication at their own discretion. The degree of compliance with medical advice on the dosage, frequency, duration and testing of medication is the main manifestation of compliance with oral antiviral drugs in hepatitis B treatment. Professor Zhuang Hui, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and an expert in liver disease, pointed out that 40% of hepatitis B patients in China have recurrent disease related to poor compliance, and that optimal treatment regimens should be selected to improve efficacy and compliance. Poor adherence of hepatitis B patients in China is directly related to the choice of treatment regimen, patients’ viral level and economic income. Improper choice of treatment regimen can lead to a decrease in patient adherence, and cost issues are also the reason why nearly a quarter of our hepatitis B patients discontinue their own medication. To improve patient compliance, optimal treatment regimens should be selected based on patient-specific circumstances, taking into account clinical efficacy, drug tolerance and patient affordability, and patient management should be strengthened while continuously monitoring efficacy.