1
|
Feliu-Prius A, Barreira-Díaz A, Rando A, Vargas-Accarino E, Palom A, Vico-Romero J, Ruiz-Cobo JC, Riveiro-Barciela M, Rodriguez-Frias F, Esteban R, Buti M. Assessing the rate of non-linkage to care and identifying barriers in individuals living with hepatitis B. Results of the LINK-B study. Liver Int 2024; 44:706-714. [PMID: 38111084 DOI: 10.1111/liv.15814] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2023] [Revised: 10/27/2023] [Accepted: 11/27/2023] [Indexed: 12/20/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND & AIMS Hepatitis B infection is the most frequent cause of chronic hepatitis and liver cancer worldwide. Active searching for individuals with chronic hepatitis B has been proposed as a strategy to achieve the elimination of this virus. The primary aim of this study was to link to specialists HBsAg-positive individuals detected in a laboratory database and to characterize individuals who were not linked to care. METHODS We performed a retrospective-prospective evaluation of all HBsAg-positive serum samples identified in the central laboratory of the Northern Barcelona area between January 2018 and June 2022. After reviewing the patients' clinical charts, all those not linked to care were given an appointment with a specialist. RESULTS Medical records of 2765 different HBsAg-positive serum samples were reviewed and 2590 individuals were identified: 844 (32.6%) were not linked to a specialist, 653 were candidates for linkage, and 344 attended the specialist visit. The two main reasons why they were not under specialist care were administrative issues, such as living in another region (12.1%) and lacking contact details (4.1%), and low life expectancy (2.8%). Individuals who did not attend their scheduled visit were mainly young [38.1 ± 12.9 vs. 44.0 ± 14.0 (p < .001)], non-White European [75.3% vs. 58.1% (p < .001)] and men [70.7% vs. 56.4% (p < .001)]. CONCLUSIONS One in every three HBsAg-positive individuals in our setting was not currently under specialist care. Of particular note, half of them had never attended a specialist consultation, an essential step for evaluating the disease and starting therapy in some countries.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Anna Feliu-Prius
- Medicine Department, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain
- Liver Unit, Internal Medicine Department, Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron, Vall d'Hebron Barcelona Hospital Campus, Barcelona, Spain
- Liver Diseases Research Group, Vall d'Hebron Institut de Recerca (VHIR), Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron, Vall d'Hebron Barcelona Hospital Campus, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Ana Barreira-Díaz
- Medicine Department, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain
- Liver Unit, Internal Medicine Department, Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron, Vall d'Hebron Barcelona Hospital Campus, Barcelona, Spain
- Liver Diseases Research Group, Vall d'Hebron Institut de Recerca (VHIR), Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron, Vall d'Hebron Barcelona Hospital Campus, Barcelona, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBERehd), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
| | - Ariadna Rando
- Liver Pathology Laboratory, Microbiology and Biochemistry Department, Vall d'Hebron Clinical Laboratories, Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron, Vall d'Hebron Barcelona Hospital Campus, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Elena Vargas-Accarino
- Liver Unit, Internal Medicine Department, Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron, Vall d'Hebron Barcelona Hospital Campus, Barcelona, Spain
- Liver Diseases Research Group, Vall d'Hebron Institut de Recerca (VHIR), Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron, Vall d'Hebron Barcelona Hospital Campus, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Adriana Palom
- Liver Unit, Internal Medicine Department, Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron, Vall d'Hebron Barcelona Hospital Campus, Barcelona, Spain
- Liver Diseases Research Group, Vall d'Hebron Institut de Recerca (VHIR), Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron, Vall d'Hebron Barcelona Hospital Campus, Barcelona, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBERehd), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
| | - Judit Vico-Romero
- Liver Unit, Internal Medicine Department, Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron, Vall d'Hebron Barcelona Hospital Campus, Barcelona, Spain
- Liver Diseases Research Group, Vall d'Hebron Institut de Recerca (VHIR), Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron, Vall d'Hebron Barcelona Hospital Campus, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Juan C Ruiz-Cobo
- Medicine Department, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain
- Liver Unit, Internal Medicine Department, Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron, Vall d'Hebron Barcelona Hospital Campus, Barcelona, Spain
- Liver Diseases Research Group, Vall d'Hebron Institut de Recerca (VHIR), Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron, Vall d'Hebron Barcelona Hospital Campus, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Mar Riveiro-Barciela
- Medicine Department, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain
- Liver Unit, Internal Medicine Department, Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron, Vall d'Hebron Barcelona Hospital Campus, Barcelona, Spain
- Liver Diseases Research Group, Vall d'Hebron Institut de Recerca (VHIR), Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron, Vall d'Hebron Barcelona Hospital Campus, Barcelona, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBERehd), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
| | - Francisco Rodriguez-Frias
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBERehd), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
- Liver Pathology Laboratory, Microbiology and Biochemistry Department, Vall d'Hebron Clinical Laboratories, Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron, Vall d'Hebron Barcelona Hospital Campus, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Rafael Esteban
- Medicine Department, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain
- Liver Unit, Internal Medicine Department, Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron, Vall d'Hebron Barcelona Hospital Campus, Barcelona, Spain
- Liver Diseases Research Group, Vall d'Hebron Institut de Recerca (VHIR), Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron, Vall d'Hebron Barcelona Hospital Campus, Barcelona, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBERehd), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
| | - Maria Buti
- Medicine Department, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain
- Liver Unit, Internal Medicine Department, Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron, Vall d'Hebron Barcelona Hospital Campus, Barcelona, Spain
- Liver Diseases Research Group, Vall d'Hebron Institut de Recerca (VHIR), Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron, Vall d'Hebron Barcelona Hospital Campus, Barcelona, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBERehd), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
| |
Collapse
|