Background & aims: With the recent improvement in the treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, a better understanding of the infection burden is needed. We aimed to (a) estimate the trends in the national prevalence of HCV infection based on the type of health insurance coverage and (b) identify at-risk populations for HCV infection in the United States (US) general population.
Methods: Population-based analyses using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2013-2018) were performed with a focus on HCV infection. We analysed the prevalence of HCV infection based on the health insurance status before the direct-acting antiviral (DAA) era (2013-2014) and during the DAA era (2015-2018).
Results: The age-adjusted prevalence of active HCV infection (HCV RNA [+]) was 0.92% (95% confidence interval, 0.71%-1.19%) in the US non-institutionalized civilian population. Although the prevalence of active HCV infection has remained stable, the prevalence of resolved HCV infection has increased after the introduction of DAA. In terms of health insurance coverage, the prevalence of active HCV infection decreased, and the prevalence of resolved HCV infection increased among individuals who had health insurance, especially private health insurance. The independent risk factors of active HCV infection were 40-69 years group, male, less than high school education, unmarried, below poverty status, being born in the US, history of blood transfusion and not having private health insurance.
Conclusion: The burden of active HCV infection has decreased among individuals who had health insurance, especially private health insurance, during the DAA era.
Keywords: HCV; National Health and Nutrition Examination survey; direct-acting antivirals.
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