1. Hepatitis C Rapid Point-of-Care Testing and Laboratory-based Non-invasive Assessment of Liver Fibrosis among Drug Abusers: An Experience from Iran.
- Author
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Hedayati-Moghaddam, Mohammad Reza, Soltanian, Hossein, Danaee, Majid, and Vahedi, Seyed Ahmad
- Subjects
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HEPATITIS C diagnosis , *HEPATITIS C risk factors , *CLINICAL pathology , *TREATMENT programs , *REHABILITATION centers , *POINT-of-care testing , *CROSS-sectional method , *MULTIVARIATE analysis , *INTRAVENOUS drug abuse , *TATTOOING , *SUBSTANCE abuse treatment , *HEPATITIS C , *CIRRHOSIS of the liver , *COMPARATIVE studies , *WIDOWHOOD , *RISK assessment , *DISEASE prevalence , *PLATELET count , *DESCRIPTIVE statistics , *VIREMIA , *VIRAL antibodies , *POLYMERASE chain reaction , *DRUG abusers , *ASPARTATE aminotransferase , *DIVORCE - Abstract
Background: People who use drugs, particularly injection drug users (IDUs) are known as the major source of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. This study was performed to determine the prevalence of HCV infection using rapid point-of-care testing and to assess liver fibrosis by non-invasive lab tests among addict populations of Mashhad, Iran. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, drug users who referred to drug treatment and harm reduction centers of Mashhad were enrolled during March and December 2019. A rapid test kit was used to assess the presence of anti-HCV antibodies and a realtime PCR was performed to confirm the infection. The AST-platelet ratio index (APRI) and fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) score were used to investigate liver fibrosis in patients with positive HCV RNA. A P value <0.05 was considered as significant. Results: A total of 390 drug users aged 15-74 years were assessed. Sixty-four individuals showed positive results for anti-HCV (16.4%), of whom 58 blood samples were available for PCR test. The viremic rate among the latter group was calculated at 84.5% (49/58); the total viremia prevalence was 12.8% (49/384). Multivariate analysis revealed that being single (P = 0.040) or divorced/ widow (P = 0.011) and history of drug injection (P < 0.001) and tattoos (P = 0.021) were significantly associated with current HCV infection. Using APRI and FIB-4 indices, significant liver fibrosis was identified in 14.3% and 18.4% of cases, respectively. Conclusion: HCV infection screening using rapid tests and examining liver fibrosis by non-invasive lab tests appear to be practicable and useful among poor populations in settings such as drug treatment centers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2021
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