Background: To describe the "continuum of care" for hepatitis C virus (HCV) and related health service utilization among persons who inject drugs (PWID) in the Seattle metropolitan area.
Methods: The study analyzed data from the 2015 National HIV Behavioral Surveillance system focused on PWID, which included local questions on HCV treatment and testing. We calculated respondent driven sampling (RDS)-adjusted percentages of participants who had completed each step of the care continuum and compared healthcare harm reduction services among participants who were HCV + vs. HCV- using bivariate analyses.
Results: 513 PWID were screened for HCV antibodies (Ab). Of those, 59.7% were HCV Ab+. Among those HCV Ab+, 86.4% had been tested for HCV at least once; 69.9% reported a previous diagnosis. Of those diagnosed, 55.9% had received a confirmatory test, 17.2% had ever received any medications for HCV, and 7.2% had completed treatment. The majority of HCV Ab + participants had seen a health care provider in the past 12 months (85.6%).
Conclusions: There is a large gap between HCV screening and treatment among Seattle area PWID.
Keywords: Continuum of care; Hepatitis C; Persons who inject drugs.
Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.