1. Rural-Urban Residence and Maternal Hepatitis C Infection, U.S.: 2010-2018.
- Author
-
Ahrens KA, Rossen LM, Burgess AR, Palmsten KK, and Ziller EC
- Subjects
- Appalachian Region, Bayes Theorem, Female, Humans, New England, New Mexico, Pregnancy, United States epidemiology, Hepatitis C epidemiology, Rural Population
- Abstract
Introduction: The prevalence of hepatitis C virus infection among women delivering live births in the U.S. may be higher in rural areas where county-level estimates may be unreliable. The aim of this study is to model county-level maternal hepatitis C virus infection among deliveries in the U.S., Methods: In 2020, U.S. natality files (2010-2018) with county-level maternal residence information were used from states that had adopted the 2003 revised U.S. birth certificate, which included a field for hepatitis C virus infection present during pregnancy. Hierarchical Bayesian spatial models with spatiotemporal random effects were applied to produce stable annual county-level estimates of maternal hepatitis C virus infection for years when all states had adopted the revised birth certificate (2016-2018). Models included a 6-Level Urban-Rural County Classification Scheme along with the birth year and county-specific covariates to improve posterior predictions., Results: Among approximately 32 million live births, the overall prevalence of maternal hepatitis C virus infection was 3.5 per 1,000 births (increased from 2.0 in 2010 to 5.0 in 2018). During 2016-2018, posterior predicted median county-level maternal hepatitis C virus infection rates showed that nonurban counties had 3.5-3.8 times higher rates of hepatitis C virus than large central metropolitan counties. The counties in the top 10th percentile for maternal hepatitis C virus rates in 2018 were generally located in Appalachia, in Northern New England, along the northern border in the Upper Midwest, and in New Mexico., Conclusions: Further implementation of community-level interventions that are effective in reducing maternal hepatitis C virus infection and its subsequent morbidity may help to reduce geographic and rural disparities., (Copyright © 2021 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. All rights reserved.)
- Published
- 2021
- Full Text
- View/download PDF