Hepatitis C Virus–Related Knowledge and Willingness to Receive Treatment Among Patients on Methadone Maintenance

Details

• Alternative Title:
  J Addict Med
• Personal Author:
  Zeremski, Marija ; Dimova, Rositsa B. ; Zavala, Roberto ; Kritz, Steven ; Lin, Melissa ; Smith, Bryce D. ; Zibbell, Jon E. ; Talal, Andrew H.
• Description:
  Objectives
  
  Although persons who inject drugs have high prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, few receive treatment mostly because of lack of knowledge about the infection and its treatment. We assessed the level of HCV-related knowledge and willingness to participate in HCV treatment among methadone-maintained patients.
  
  Methods
  
  A 30-item survey covering HCV-related knowledge and willingness to engage in HCV-related education and treatment was developed and completed by 320 methadone-maintained patients.
  
  Results
  
  Respondents’ mean age was 53 ± 8.7 years, 59.5% were male, 55.1% were African American, and 38.3% were Hispanic. The mean duration of methadone maintenance was 7 ± 6.7 years. In the preceding 6 months, 6.9% of patients reported injection drug use, whereas 37.3% used noninjection drugs. Hepatitis C virus seropositivity was self-reported by 46.3% of patients. The majority of patients (78%) expressed willingness to participate in HCV-related education and to receive HCV treatment. Most patients (54.7%) correctly answered 5 or more of 7 questions assessing HCV knowledge. Hepatitis C virus–seropositive individuals and prior attendees at HCV-related educational activities demonstrated a higher level of HCV-related knowledge (P < 0.001 and P = 0.002, respectively). Younger patients (P = 0.014), those willing to attend an HCV-related educational activity (P < 0.001), and those with higher–HCV-related knowledge (P = 0.029) were more accepting of HCV treatment. Fear of medication-related side effects was the most common reason for treatment avoidance.
  
  Conclusions
  
  The majority of patients reported willingness to receive HCV-related education and treatment. Treatment willingness was significantly associated with previous attendance at an HCV educational activity and a higher level of HCV-related knowledge.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Article Drug Treatment Female HCV Education Health Education Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice Health Surveys Hepatitis C Humans Knowledge Male Methadone Middle Aged Models Of Care For Hepatitis C Opiate Substitution Treatment Patient Compliance Persons Who Inject Drugs Substance Abuse, Intravenous

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• Source:
  J Addict Med. 8(4):249-257.
• Pubmed ID:
  24820257
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC4747636
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  CC999999/Intramural CDC HHS/United States
• Volume:
  8
• Issue:
  4
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:9820f807dd13abaaba58f9b3272dc881c97d9e456dd81f48eb2f13a47afc1082
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/37948/cdc_37948_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 577.97 KB ]