A Birth-cohort testing intervention identified hepatitis c virus infection among patients with few identified risks: a cross-sectional study
Advanced Search
Select up to three search categories and corresponding keywords using the fields to the right. Refer to the Help section for more detailed instructions.

Search our Collections & Repository

All these words:

For very narrow results

This exact word or phrase:

When looking for a specific result

Any of these words:

Best used for discovery & interchangable words

None of these words:

Recommended to be used in conjunction with other fields

Language:

Dates

Publication Date Range:

to

Document Data

Title:

Document Type:

Library

Collection:

Series:

People

Author:

Help
Clear All

Query Builder

Query box

Help
Clear All

For additional assistance using the Custom Query please check out our Help Page

i

A Birth-cohort testing intervention identified hepatitis c virus infection among patients with few identified risks: a cross-sectional study

Filetype[PDF-600.05 KB]



Details:

  • Alternative Title:
    BMC Infect Dis
  • Description:
    Background

    International guidelines and U.S. guidelines prior to 2012 only recommended testing for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection among patients at risk, but adherence to guidelines is poor, and the majority of those infected remain undiagnosed. A strategy to perform one-time testing of all patients born during 1945–1965, birth cohort testing, may diagnose HCV infection among patients whose risk remains unknown. We sought to determine if a birth-cohort testing intervention for HCV antibody positivity helped identify patients with fewer documented risk factors or medical indications than a pre-intervention, risk-based testing strategy.

    Methods

    We used a cross-sectional design with retrospective electronic medical record review to examine patients identified with HCV antibody positivity (Ab+) during a pre-intervention (risk-based) phase, the standard of care at the time, vs. a birth-cohort testing intervention phase. We compared demographic and clinical characteristics and HCV risk-associated factors among patients whose HCV Ab + was identified during the pre-intervention (risk-based testing) vs. post birth-cohort intervention phases. Study subjects were patients identified as HCV-Ab + in the baseline (risk-based) and birth-cohort testing phases of the Hepatitis C Assessment and Testing (HepCAT) Project.

    Results

    Compared to the risk-based phase, patients newly diagnosed with HCV Ab + after the birth-cohort intervention were significantly less likely to have a history of any substance abuse (30.5 % vs. 49.5 %, p = 0.02), elevated alanine transaminase levels of > 40 U/L (22.0 % vs. 46.7 %, p = 0.002), or the composite any risk-associated factor (55.9 % vs. 79.0 %, p = 0.002).

    Conclusions

    Birth-cohort testing is an useful strategy for identifying previously undiagnosed HCV Ab + because it does not require providers ask risk-based questions, or patients to disclose risk behaviors, and appears to identify HCV Ab + in patients who would not have been identified using a risk-based testing strategy.

  • Pubmed ID:
    26626449
  • Pubmed Central ID:
    PMC4667399
  • Document Type:
  • Collection(s):
  • Main Document Checksum:
  • File Type:

You May Also Like

Checkout today's featured content at stacks.cdc.gov