TY - JOUR
T1 - Hepatitis B and C virus infection among 1.2 million persons with access to care
T2 - Factors associated with testing and infection prevalence
AU - Spradling, Philip R.
AU - Rupp, Loralee
AU - Moorman, Anne C.
AU - Lu, Mei
AU - Teshale, Eyasu H.
AU - Gordon, Stuart C.
AU - Nakasato, Cynthia
AU - Boscarino, Joseph A.
AU - Henkle, Emily M.
AU - Nerenz, David R.
AU - Denniston, Maxine M.
AU - Holmberg, Scott D.
N1 - Funding Information:
Financial support. CHeCS was funded by the CDC Foundation, which received grants from Abbott Laboratories; Genentech, A Member of the Roche Group; Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson; and Vertex Pharmaceuticals.
Funding Information:
Potential conflicts of interest. S. C. G. receives grant/research support from Abbott Pharmaceuticals, Anadys Pharmaceuticals, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Conatus, Eiger Biopharmaceuticals, Inc, Exalenz BioScience, Gilead Pharmaceuticals, GlaxoSmithKline, GlobeImmune, Intercept Pharmaceuticals, Merck, Roche Pharmaceuticals, Tibotec, Vertex Pharmaceuticals, and Zymogenetics; serves as a consultant for Achillion, Bristol-Myers Squibb, CVS Caremark, Gilead Pharmaceuticals, Merck, Salix Pharmaceuticals, Johnson and Johnson, and Vertex; serves on the Data Monitoring Board for Tibotec; and serves as a speaker for Bayer, Gilead, Roche, Merck, and Vertex. M. L. receives grant support to institution from Henry Ford Health System. J. A. B. has consulted for Pfizer and Janssen, and receives grant support from NIH. All other authors report no potential conflicts.
PY - 2012/10/15
Y1 - 2012/10/15
N2 - Background. Little is known about viral hepatitis testing and infection prevalence among persons in private healthcare organizations (HCOs) in the United States. Methods. To determine the frequency of and characteristics associated with viral hepatitis testing and infection prevalence among adults with access to care, we conducted an observational cohort study among 1.25 million adults from 4 US HCOs and included persons with ≥1 clinical encounter during 2006-2008 and ≥12 months of continuous follow-up before 2009. We compared the number of infections identified with the number expected based on adjusted data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).Results.Of 866 886 persons without a previous hepatitis B virus (HBV) diagnosis, 18.8 were tested for HBV infection, of whom 1.4 tested positive; among 865 659 without a previous hepatitis C virus (HCV) diagnosis, 12.7 were tested, of whom 5.5 tested positive. Less than half of those with ≥2 abnormal alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels were subsequently tested for HBV or HCV. When tested, Asians (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 6.33 relative to whites) were most likely HBV infected, whereas those aged 50-59 years were most likely HCV infected (aOR 6.04, relative to age <30 years). Based on estimates from NHANES, nearly one-half of HCV and one-fifth of HBV infections in this population were not identified.Conclusions.Even in this population with access to care and lengthy follow-up, only a fraction of expected viral hepatitis infections were identified. Abnormal ALT levels often but not consistently triggered testing. These findings have implications for the identification and care of 4-5 million US residents with HBV and HCV infection.
AB - Background. Little is known about viral hepatitis testing and infection prevalence among persons in private healthcare organizations (HCOs) in the United States. Methods. To determine the frequency of and characteristics associated with viral hepatitis testing and infection prevalence among adults with access to care, we conducted an observational cohort study among 1.25 million adults from 4 US HCOs and included persons with ≥1 clinical encounter during 2006-2008 and ≥12 months of continuous follow-up before 2009. We compared the number of infections identified with the number expected based on adjusted data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).Results.Of 866 886 persons without a previous hepatitis B virus (HBV) diagnosis, 18.8 were tested for HBV infection, of whom 1.4 tested positive; among 865 659 without a previous hepatitis C virus (HCV) diagnosis, 12.7 were tested, of whom 5.5 tested positive. Less than half of those with ≥2 abnormal alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels were subsequently tested for HBV or HCV. When tested, Asians (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 6.33 relative to whites) were most likely HBV infected, whereas those aged 50-59 years were most likely HCV infected (aOR 6.04, relative to age <30 years). Based on estimates from NHANES, nearly one-half of HCV and one-fifth of HBV infections in this population were not identified.Conclusions.Even in this population with access to care and lengthy follow-up, only a fraction of expected viral hepatitis infections were identified. Abnormal ALT levels often but not consistently triggered testing. These findings have implications for the identification and care of 4-5 million US residents with HBV and HCV infection.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84866667687&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84866667687&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1093/cid/cis616
DO - 10.1093/cid/cis616
M3 - Review article
C2 - 22875876
AN - SCOPUS:84866667687
SN - 1058-4838
VL - 55
SP - 1047
EP - 1055
JO - Clinical Infectious Diseases
JF - Clinical Infectious Diseases
IS - 8
ER -