A Survey of the Knowledge of and Testing Rate for Hepatitis C in the General Population in South Korea

Abstract

Background/aims: To eliminate hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, improving public knowledge of and access to HCV screening and treatment is essential. The aim of this study was to evaluate the knowledge of and testing rate for HCV and the opinions about the inclusion of the HCV test in the National Health Examination (NHE) among the general population in South Korea.

Methods: A telephone interview survey was conducted by an independent research company using a 16 item-questionnaire (demographics, knowledge of HCV, testing and results, need for screening) in May 2019. The sample population consisted of 1,003 adult Korean residents adjusted by age, sex, and area according to the standard Korean population in 2019.

Results: Among the 1,003 participants (505 women, mean age of 47.9 years), 56.4% recognized HCV; 44.4% understood that HCV is transmittable, and 56.8% thought that HCV is curable by medication. The recognition rate tended to increase with an increasing level of education. Testing for anti-HCV antibodies was reported by 91 people (9.1%); among them, 10 people (11.0%) reported a positive result, and eight people received treatment. The common reasons for HCV testing were a health check-up (58.5%), a physician's recommendation (11.0%) and elevated liver enzyme levels (10.7%). The majority of the population (75.1%) agreed with the integration of HCV into the NHE.

Conclusions: The level of knowledge of HCV is suboptimal, and the self-reported testing rate for HCV is less than 10%; however, once HCV infection is diagnosed, the treatment rate seems to be high in South Korea. More active campaigns and effective screening are needed.

Keywords: Awareness; Hepatitis C; Knowledge; Public health; Transmission; chronic.

Fig. 1

Recognition rate of hepatitis C virus (HCV) among the general population of South Korea in 2019: positive response to the question “Have you ever heard about HCV?” Among the 1,003 survey respondents, 56.4% had heard of hepatitis C. The recognition rate tended to increase from respondents in their 20s to those in their 50s and then decrease. While the HCV recognition rate showed no significant difference according to sex or geographic region, it tended to increase with increasing levels of education and average household income, though the associations were not statistically significant. Margin of error: ±3.1% (95% confidence interval).

Fig. 2

The knowledge of hepatitis C virus (HCV) and opinions about the inclusion of the HCV test in the National Health Examination. Among the 1,003 respondents, 44.4% thought HCV is transmittable, 69.8% thought there was a parenteral route of transmission, and 56.8% believed that HCV can be cured by adequate medication. The majority of respondents (75.1%) agreed that an anti-HCV test should be included as a basic item in the National Health Examination. Margin of error: ±3.1% (95% confidence interval).

Fig. 3

Self-reported hepatitis C virus (HCV) testing rate and reasons for testing in the Korean general population in 2019. (A) Testing rate with the anti-HCV test. Testing for anti-HCV was reported by 91 people among the 1,003 survey subjects (9.1%). (B) The reasons for receiving the anti-HCV test. The common reasons for HCV testing were a health check-up (58.5%), a physician’s recommendation (11.0%) and elevated liver enzyme levels (10.7%). Margin of error: ±3.1% (95% confidence interval).