Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2007 Dec;22(12):1689-94.
doi: 10.1007/s11606-007-0395-x. Epub 2007 Oct 9.

Awareness of hepatitis C infection among women with and at risk for HIV

Mardge H Cohen  1 , Dennis Grey, Judith A Cook, Kathryn Anastos, Eric Seaberg, Michael Augenbraun, Pam Burian, Marion Peters, Mary Young, Audrey French
Affiliations

Awareness of hepatitis C infection among women with and at risk for HIV

Mardge H Cohen et al. J Gen Intern Med. 2007 Dec.

Abstract

Background: Treatment guidelines recommend all HIV/HCV-co-infected persons be considered for hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment, yet obstacles to testing and accessing treatment for HCV continue for women.

Objective: To assess awareness of HCV, and describe diagnostic referrals and HCV treatment among women in the Women's Interagency HIV Study (WIHS).

Design: Prospective epidemiologic cohort.

Participants: Of 3,768 HIV-infected and uninfected women in WIHS, 1,166 (31%) were HCV antibody positive.

Measurements and main results: Awareness of HCV infection and probability of referrals for diagnostic evaluations and treatment using logistic regression. Follow-up HCV information was available for 681 (390 died, 15 withdrew, 80 missed visit) in 2004. Of these 681, 522 (76.7%) reported knowing their HCV diagnosis. Of these, 247 of 522 (47.3%) stated their providers recommended a liver biopsy, whereas 139 of 247 or 56.3% reported having a liver biopsy. A total of 170 of 522 (32.6%) reported being offered treatment and 74.1% (n = 126 of 170) reported receiving HCV treatment. In multivariate regression analyses, African-American race, Hispanic/Latina ethnicity, poverty, and current crack/cocaine/heroin use were negatively associated with treatment referrals, whereas elevated alanine aminotransferase (ALT) was associated with increased likelihood of referral and increased likelihood of treatment.

Conclusion: One quarter of women with HCV in this cohort were not aware of their diagnosis. Among those aware of their HCV, 1 in 4 received liver biopsy and treatment for HCV. Both provider and patient education interventions regarding HCV testing and HCV treatment options and guidelines are needed to enhance HCV awareness and participation in HCV evaluation and treatment.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. {'text': '', 'ref_index': 1, 'ids': [{'type': 'PubMed', 'value': '16702586', 'is_inner': True, 'url': 'https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16702586/'}]}
    2. Armstrong GL, Wasley A, Simard EP, McQuillan GM, Kuhnert WL, Alter MJ. The prevalence of hepatitis C virus infection in the United States, 1999 through 2002. Ann Intern Med. 2006;144:705–14. - PubMed
    1. {'text': '', 'ref_index': 1, 'ids': [{'type': 'DOI', 'value': '10.1097/00004836-200609000-00014', 'is_inner': False, 'url': 'https://doi.org/10.1097/00004836-200609000-00014'}, {'type': 'PubMed', 'value': '16940888', 'is_inner': True, 'url': 'https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16940888/'}]}
    2. Bini EJ, Currie SL, Shen H, et al. National multicenter study of HIV testing and HIV seropositivity in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection. J Clin Gastroenterol. 2006;40:732–9. - PubMed
    1. {'text': '', 'ref_index': 1, 'ids': [{'type': 'DOI', 'value': '10.1097/01.qco.0000200294.22661.e0', 'is_inner': False, 'url': 'https://doi.org/10.1097/01.qco.0000200294.22661.e0'}, {'type': 'PubMed', 'value': '16374211', 'is_inner': True, 'url': 'https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16374211/'}]}
    2. Rockstroh JK. Management of hepatitis C/HIV coinfection. Curr Opin Infect Dis. 2006;19:8–13. - PubMed
    1. {'text': '', 'ref_index': 1, 'ids': [{'type': 'DOI', 'value': '10.1097/01.aids.0000192065.09281.01', 'is_inner': False, 'url': 'https://doi.org/10.1097/01.aids.0000192065.09281.01'}, {'type': 'PubMed', 'value': '16251809', 'is_inner': True, 'url': 'https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16251809/'}]}
    2. Backus LI, Boothroyd D, Deyton LR. HIV, hepatitis C and HIV/hepatitis C virus co-infection in vulnerable populations. AIDS. 2005;19(Suppl 3):13–9. - PubMed
    1. {'text': '', 'ref_index': 1, 'ids': [{'type': 'DOI', 'value': '10.1111/j.1525-1497.2004.30613.x', 'is_inner': False, 'url': 'https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1525-1497.2004.30613.x'}, {'type': 'PMC', 'value': 'PMC1492202', 'is_inner': False, 'url': 'https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1492202/'}, {'type': 'PubMed', 'value': '15061745', 'is_inner': True, 'url': 'https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15061745/'}]}
    2. Hall CS, Charlebois ED, Hahn JA, Moss AR, Bangsberg DR. Hepatitis C virus infection in San Francisco’s HIV-infected urban poor. J Gen Intern Med. 2004;19:357–65. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances