Session: Oral Abstract Session: HCV Advances
Saturday, October 29, 2016: 10:56 AM
Room: 388-390
Background:
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection can remain asymptomatic for years, limiting
awareness of infection and making linkage to care and treatment challenging.
Methods: The National Health and Nutrition
Examination Survey (NHANES) 2001‒2012 conducted a follow-up survey of HCV-infected
participants to ask about awareness of their HCV infection prior to notification of NHANES HCV
test results and care received after their first positive test. NHANES
2013‒2014 asked all participants aged ≥6 years if a health
professional had ever told them that they were infected with HCV, and if so,
was medication prescribed to treat their HCV infection prior to participation
in NHANES. Per National Center for Health Statistics guidance, estimates from
20132014 were weighted to account for the complex sample design, whereas estimates
from 20012006 and 20072012 were not.
Results: Of 22,730 participants tested in NHANES during 2001‒2006,
279 (1.2%) had evidence of past or current HCV infection, of whom 138 (49%)
responded in the follow-up interview. During 2007‒2012, 51,340 participants
aged ≥6 years were tested, and 595 (1.2%) had evidence of past or current
HCV infection, of whom 238 (40%) responded in the follow-up interview. The number (%) of NHANES
participants aged ≥6 years who tested positive for HCV-RNA in 2001-2006,
2007-2012 and 2013-2014 was 205 (0.9%), 219 (1.0%) and 67 (0.7%), respectively.
In the continuum of care for HCV, proportionately more follow-up survey
respondents in 2007‒2012 than in 20012006 reported that they were aware
of their infection prior to receiving the NHANES report of findings letter (59%
vs. 50%), had seen a doctor for HCV infection (55% vs. 41%), were told
follow-up was needed (35% vs. 24%), were told about medications for HCV (33%
vs. 16%), were told treatment was needed (28% vs. 12%), and were treated (22%
vs 7%) (Figure). In NHANES 2013‒2014, 31 (54%) were aware of and 13 (30%)
were prescribed medications for their HCV infection.
Conclusion: NHANES data indicate that from
2001 through 2014, only 50-60% of those infected with HCV were aware of their
infection, but over those years awareness and linkage to care and treatment
improved.
Figure. HCV awareness and care
cascade among NHANES participants 20012006, 20072012, and 20132014*
Monique Foster, MD, MPH, Laurie Barker, MSPH, Ruth Jiles, PhD, MPH, MS and Scott Holmberg, MD, MPH, FIDSA, Division of Viral Hepatitis, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA
Disclosures:
M. Foster,
None
L. Barker,
None
R. Jiles,
None
S. Holmberg,
None