Ending hepatitis C in the United States: the role of screening

Diagnostic Overshadowing of Chronic Hepatitis C in People With Mental Health Conditions Who Inject Drugs: A Scoping Review

Diagnostic overshadowing refers to a phenomenon whereby people with mental health conditions encounter inadequate or delayed medical attention and misdiagnosis. This occurs when physical symptoms are mistakenly attributed to their mental health condition. This paper presents a scoping review focusing on direct causes and background factors of diagnostic overshadowing in the context of hepatitis C infection in people who inject drugs and have concurrent mental health conditions. Despite significant strides in hepatitis C treatment with direct-acting antiviral drugs, the complex interplay of mental health conditions and physical symptoms necessitates a nuanced approach for accurate diagnosis and effective screening. This review was conducted using Joanna Briggs Institute's methodology for scoping reviews. The databases searched included Medline, Embase, PsycInfo, Global Health, CINAHL and Scopus. This review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR). The search strategies identified 1995 records. Overall, 166 studies were excluded. Forty-two (42) studies met the inclusion criteria. Three (n = 3) studies represented direct causes, and 39 (n = 39) with background factors related to diagnostic overshadowing. Studies highlighted six key themes encompassing diagnostic overshadowing, with communication barriers, stigma and knowledge deficiencies being the most prominent. Recognising and addressing diagnostic overshadowing in chronic hepatitis C will lead to increased screening, diagnosis and timely administration of life-saving antiviral therapy, resulting in profound enhancements in well-being and health outcomes. Moreover, this proactive approach will play a pivotal role in advancing the global effort towards eliminating hepatitis C by 2030.

A Qualitative Study of Implementing Universal Hepatitis C Screening Among Adults at an Urban Community-Based Health Provider in Delaware

Objectives

We conducted a qualitative study of primary care providers to assess the challenges and opportunities in implementing a universal screening program for Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) at an urban community-based health center serving a largely disadvantaged population.

Methods

Qualitative semi-structured interviews of prescribing providers took place pre- and post-educational intervention, at a single federally qualified health center in Wilmington, Delaware, between September 2018 and July 2019. The intervention included a two-day didactic session and shadowing specialist providers. Data captured provider perspectives on universal screening and treatment. The interviews were transcribed verbatim, then grouped into codes, then finally, themes.

Results

Emergent themes included hesitancy in managing universal screening programs in the primary care environment, positive attitudes surrounding treatment, fewer HCV cases than expected, and concern with both patient-level barriers and practice-level barriers. Pre-intervention and post-intervention themes were similar.

Conclusions

Implementation programs exploring universal HCV screening in the primary care environment should include educational opportunities that are available to all individuals in the practice, sustained organizational support, and available patient literature targeted to patients with varying health literacy and in languages other than English. In short, universal HCV screening and treatment is feasible in the primary medical environment but requires ongoing support and education for providers to ensure success.

Hepatitis C Virus Testing Among Men With Human Immunodeficiency Virus Who Have Sex With Men: Temporal Trends and Racial/Ethnic Disparities

Background

National guidelines recommend that sexually active people with human immunodeficiency virus (PWH) who are men who have sex with men (MSM) be tested for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection at least annually. Hepatitis C virus testing rates vary by race/ethnicity in the general population, but limited data are available for PWH.

Methods

We analyzed medical records data from MSM in the HIV Outpatient Study at 9 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) clinics from January 1, 2011 through December 31, 2019. We excluded observation time after documented past or current HCV infection. We evaluated HCV antibody testing in each calendar year among HCV-seronegative MSM, and we assessed testing correlates by generalized estimating equation analyses.

Results

Of 1829 eligible MSM who were PWH, 1174 (64.2%) were non-Hispanic/Latino white (NHW), 402 (22.0%) non-Hispanic black (NHB), 187 (10.2%) Hispanic/Latino, and 66 (3.6%) of other race/ethnicity. Most were ≥40 years old (68.9%), privately insured (64.5%), with CD4 cell count/mm³ (CD4) ≥350 (77.0%), and with HIV viral load <200 copies/mL (76.9%). During 2011-2019, 1205 (65.9%) had ≥1 HCV antibody test and average annual HCV percentage tested was 30.3% (from 33.8% for NHB to 28.5% for NHW; P < .001). Multivariable factors positively associated (P < .05) with HCV testing included more recent HIV diagnosis, public insurance, lower CD4, prior chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, or hepatitis B virus diagnoses, and elevated liver enzyme levels, but not race/ethnicity.

Conclusions

Although we found no disparities by race/ethnicity in HCV testing, low overall HCV testing rates indicate suboptimal uptake of recommended HCV testing among MSM in HIV care.

There's just not enough time: a mixed methods pilot study of hepatitis C virus screening among baby boomers in primary care

BACKGROUND

Liver cancer rates are rising and hepatitis C virus (HCV) is the primary cause. The CDC recommends a one-time HCV screening for all persons born 1945-1965 (baby boomers). However, 14% of baby boomers have been screened. Few studies have examined primary care providers' (PCP) perspectives on barriers to HCV screening. This study examines current HCV screening practices, knowledge, barriers, and facilitators to HCV screening recommendation for baby boomers among PCPs.

METHODS

We conducted a mixed methods pilot study of PCPs. Quantitative: We surveyed PCPs from 3 large academic health systems assessing screening practices, knowledge (range:0-9), self-efficacy to identify and treat HCV (range:0-32), and barriers (range:0-10). Qualitative: We conducted interviews assessing patient, provider, and clinic-level barriers to HCV screening for baby boomers in primary care. Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, and analyzed with content analysis.

RESULTS

The study sample consisted of 31 PCPs (22 survey participants and nine interview participants). All PCPs were aware of the birth cohort screening recommendation and survey participants reported high HCV testing recommendation, but qualitative interviews indicated other priorities may supersede recommending HCV testing. Provider knowledge of viral transmission was high, but lower for infection prevalence. While survey participants reported very few barriers to HCV screening in primary care, interview participants provided a more nuanced description of barriers such as lack of time.

CONCLUSIONS

There is a need for provider education on both HCV treatment as well as how to effectively recommend HCV screening for their patients. As HCV screening guidelines continue to expand to a larger segment of the primary care population, it is important to understand ways to improve HCV screening in primary care.

Evaluation of the effectiveness of a pilot study of hospital-based hepatitis C epidemic surveillance

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of hospital-based hepatitis C epidemic surveillance initiated by China's CDC STD/AIDS (National Center for AIDS/STD Control and Prevention of Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention) Prevention and Control Center in 2017.A total of 104,666 anti-hepatitis C virus (HCV) and 633 HCV-RNA detection records in our hospital from 2014 to 2017 were used to analyze the anti-HCV and HCV-RNA detection rates and positive rates in patients before and after implementation of epidemic surveillance.We found that the estimated HCV positive rate was 0.395% in all patients, and this rate increased to 0.533% after the pilot research. The positive rates of anti-HCV were significantly enhanced, although certain differences were observed among different departments. Significant increase of positive rate of HCV-RNA was only found in the inpatients from nonsurgical departments. Eighty-one cases were diagnosed after this pilot research, exceeding the 70 total cases in the previous 3 years. Most cases were diagnosed by nonsurgical departments; the upward trend of the cases diagnosed by surgical departments cannot be ignored.Our study indicates expanding anti-HCV and HCV-RNA detection in the target populations in hospitals is a useful strategy for finding more occult HCV infection. In addition, our results provide useful pilot data of the seroepidemiology of Hepatitis C for the special populations in hospitals, which will provide valuable information for public health research.

Electronic medical record-verified hepatitis C virus screening in a large health system

BACKGROUND

Baby boomers are at increased risk for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and related cancer; therefore, one-time HCV screening is recommended.

METHODS

To assess prevalence of, and factors associated with providers ordering HCV screening, we examined a retrospective cohort of electronic medical records for patient visits from 01 August 2015 until 31 July 2017 in a large health system. HCV screening ordered was examined by patient age, gender, race/ethnicity, provider specialty, and number of clinical visits, stratified by birth cohort: born ≤1945, 1945-1965 (baby boomers), 1966-1985, and ≥1985. Multivariable regression identified factors independently associated with HCV screening ordered among average risk baby boomers.

RESULTS

A total of 65 114 patients ages ≥18 years were evaluated. Among baby boomers HCV screening test order increased threefold between the two study years (4.0%-12.9%). Odds of screening test ordered were significantly higher for non-Hispanic Blacks (multivariable adjusted odds ratio [aOR]=1.36; 95% CI = 1.19-1.55), males (aOR = 1.44; 95% CI = 1.33-1.57), and having a clinic visit with a primary care provider alone or with specialty care (aOR = 3.25-4.16). Medicare (aOR = 0.89; 95% CI = 0.80-0.99), Medicaid (aOR 0.89; 95% CI 0.80-0.99), and an unknown provider type (aOR = 0.16; 95% CI = 0.08-0.33), were associated with lower odds of screening tests ordered.

CONCLUSIONS

While the proportion of baby boomers with an HCV screening test ordered increased during the study, the rate of screening remains far below national goals. Data from this study indicate that providers are not ordering HCV screening universally for all of their baby boomer patients. Continued efforts to increase HCV screening are needed to reduce the incidence of HCV-related morbidity and mortality.

Mac-2 Binding Protein Glycosylation Isomer as a Hepatocellular Carcinoma Marker in Patients With Chronic Hepatitis B or C Infection

Mac‐2 binding protein glycosylation isomer (M2BPGi) is a novel glycoprotein biomarker that correlates with liver fibrosis. It has been investigated in East Asian populations as a hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) biomarker. We assessed M2BPGi as an HCC biomarker in an ethnically diverse cohort of patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. We enrolled 947 treatment‐naive patients mono‐infected with HBV or HCV without HCC at baseline. Biomarker levels were measured from baseline sera and correlated with longitudinal clinical data. The primary outcome was HCC occurrence during long‐term follow‐up. Median M2BPGi was significantly higher among patients with cirrhosis (2.67 versus 0.80; P < 0.001) and patients who developed HCC (3.22 versus 1.16; P < 0.001). The area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) for M2BPGi and alpha‐fetoprotein (AFP) was similar overall (0.77 versus 0.72; P = 0.15), but M2BPGi outperformed AFP among patients with HBV (0.84 versus 0.75; P = 0.02). M2BPGi performed poorly among patients with HCV (AUROC, 0.51). M2BPGi was an independent predictor of HCC among patients with HBV but not among patients with HCV. M2BPGi performed better in patient subgroups with a lower prevalence of cirrhosis. Conclusion: In our HBV cohort, M2BPGi was more effective than AFP in predicting HCC and was an independent predictor of HCC. However, M2BPGi had limited predictive value in our HCV cohort, likely due to a high cirrhosis burden in this cohort. Further studies are needed to evaluate M2BPGi as an HCC biomarker in broader patient populations with more diverse disease etiology, non‐Asian ethnicity, and more advanced fibrosis.

Integrating Care for Patients With Chronic Liver Disease and Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders

Mental health disorders are common among patients with chronic liver disease, and current literature supports the use of better screening and providing integrated or multidisciplinary care where possible.

Epidemiology of Chronic Hepatitis C Infections at a Tertiary Care Centre in Oman

Objectives

Chronic hepatitis C (CHC) is a leading cause of liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) worldwide. However, there is a lack of data regarding the epidemiology of CHC in Oman. This study aimed to describe the clinicopathological characteristics and outcomes of CHC-infected patients at a tertiary care hospital in Oman.

Methods

This retrospective descriptive hospital-based study included all CHC-infected patients who presented to the Sultan Qaboos University Hospital (SQUH) in Muscat, Oman, between January 2010 and December 2015. The baseline demographic, clinical, laboratory and radiological data of the patients were analysed.

Results

A total of 603 CHC-infected patients were identified during the study period; of these, 65.8% were male and the mean age was 44.8 ± 16.5 years. The main risk factors associated with CHC infection were intravenous drug abuse (23.9%) and a history of blood transfusions (20.7%). The most prevalent virus genotypes were 1 and 3 (44.0% and 35.1%, respectively). Upon initial presentation, 33.0% of the cohort had liver cirrhosis; of these, 48.7% had decompensated cirrhosis and 23.1% had HCCs. Liver transplantation was only performed for 7.5% of the cirrhosis patients, mostly as a curative treatment for HCC.

Conclusion

The implementation of national policies to prevent hepatitis C transmission and encourage the early screening of at-risk patients is recommended to reduce the burden and consequences of this disease in Oman.

Critical remarks on strategies aiming to reduce drug related harm: substance misuse and HIV/AIDS in a world in turmoil

In the last decades, the initiatives implemented under the conceptual umbrella of Harm Reduction have gained momentum, with a vigor and scope (both from a geographic and social perspective) never seen before. A more balanced reevaluation could and should rather say such initiatives have resumed, to a large extent, ideas and actions launched much earlier, in the first decades of the 20th century. Notwithstanding, the dissemination of HIV/AIDS in recent years conferred an exceptional visibility and legitimacy to proposals formerly viewed as subsidiary or openly neglected. Nowadays, initiatives inspired by the Harm Reduction philosophy have faced an "identity crisis", not secondary (according to our perspective) to challenges faced by its concepts and operations, but rather as consequence of a world in a turmoil. Such fast-changing dynamics have reconfigured both drug scenes and the patterns and prospects of HIV/AIDS worldwide. This article briefly summarizes some of such recent, ongoing, changes, which have been deeply affecting both concepts and practices to the point of asking for a deep reformulation of most of the initiatives implemented so far.

Integrating Routine HCV Testing in Primary Care: Lessons Learned from Five Federally Qualified Health Centers in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2012-2014

OBJECTIVE

An estimated 2.7-3.9 million Americans are infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV). Despite being the most common blood-borne virus in the United States, routine HCV testing is not commonly practiced. To address this gap, we measured the impact of integrated routine HCV testing on patient care.

METHODS

As part of CDC's Hepatitis Testing and Linkage to Care initiative, which promoted viral hepatitis B and hepatitis C screening, posttest counseling, and linkage to care at 34 U.S. sites, National Nursing Centers Consortium integrated a routine opt-out HCV testing and linkage-to-care model at five federally qualified health centers in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from October 1, 2012, to June 30, 2014. The model included medical assistant-initiated testing, reflex laboratory-based HCV tests, and electronic health record modifications to prompt, track, and facilitate reimbursement for tests performed on uninsured patients.

RESULTS

During the study period, 4,207 unique patients received HCV antibody (anti-HCV) testing, of whom 488 (11.6%) tested anti-HCV positive. Of those testing positive, 433 (88.7%) received a confirmatory HCV RNA test; of these 433 recipients, 313 (72.3%) were diagnosed with current infection (overall prevalence = 7.4%), of which 243 (77.6%) received their HCV RNA-positive results, 184 (58.8%) were referred to an HCV care provider, and 121 (38.7%) were linked to care. The highest rates of current infection were among non-Hispanic white patients (18.1%, 90/496); patients from the Public Health Management Corporation Care Clinic, which treats HIV and HCV patients on-site (14.3%, 200/1,394); and patients aged 50-69 years (10.7%, 189/1,767).

CONCLUSION

Our model successfully integrated HCV testing and linkage to care into routine primary care. This study also identified potential successes and barriers that may be experienced by other primary care health centers that are integrating HCV testing.

Utility of Electronic Medical record-based Fibrosis Scores in Predicting Advanced Cirrhosis in Patients with Hepatitic C Virus Infection

OBJECTIVE

To determine whether advanced cirrhosis - defined by the detection of nodular liver contours or portal venous collaterals on imaging studies - could be predicted by fibrosis algorithms, calculated using laboratory and demographic features extracted from patients' electronic medical records. To this end, we compared seven EMR-based fibrosis scores with liver imaging studies in a cohort of HCV patients.

METHODS

A search of our health system's patient data warehouse identified 867 patients with chronic HCV infection. A total of 565 patients had undergone at least one liver imaging study and had no confounding medical condition affecting the imaging features or fibrosis scores. Demographic and laboratory data were used to calculate APRI, Fib4, Fibrosis Index, Forns, GUCI, Lok Index and Vira-HepC scores for all viremic patients who had undergone liver imaging. Data points selected for the calculation of these scores were based on laboratory results obtained within the shortest possible time from the imaging study. Areas under the receiver operating curves (AUROC), optimum cut-offs, sensitivities, specificities and positive and negative predictive values were calculated for each score.

RESULTS

Seven algorithms were performed similarly in predicting cirrhosis. Sensitivities ranged from 0.65 to 1.00, specificities from 0.67 to 0.90, positive predictive values from 0.33 to 0.38, and negative predictive values from 0.93 to 1.00. No individual test was superior, as the confidence intervals of all AUROCs overlapped.

CONCLUSIONS

EMR-based scoring systems performed relatively well in ruling out advanced, radiologically-defined cirrhosis. However, their moderate sensitivity and positive predictive values limit their reliability for EMR-based diagnosis.

Identification and Fibrosis Staging of Hepatitis C Patients Using the Electronic Medical Record System

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

The aim of this study was to noninvasively assess the severity of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) in large patient populations. It would be helpful if fibrosis scores could be calculated solely on the basis of data contained in the patients' electronic medical records (EMR). We performed a pilot study to identify all HCV-infected patients in a large health care system, and predict their fibrosis stage on the basis of demographic and laboratory data using common data from their EMR.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

HCV-infected patients were identified using the EMR. The liver biopsies of 191 HCV patients were graded using the Ishak and Metavir scoring systems. Demographic and laboratory data were extracted from the EMR and used to calculate the aminotransferase to platelet ratio index, Fib-4, Fibrosis Index, Forns, Göteborg University Cirrhosis Index, Lok Index, and Vira-HepC.

RESULTS

In total, 869 HCV-infected patients were identified from a population of over 1 million. In the subgroup of patients with liver biopsies, all 7 algorithms were significantly correlated with the fibrosis stage. The degree of correlation was moderate, with correlation coefficients ranging from 0.22 to 0.60. For the detection of advanced fibrosis (Metavir 3 or 4), the areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve ranged from 0.71 to 0.84, with no significant differences between the individual scores. Sensitivities, specificities, and positive and negative predictive values were within the previously reported range. All scores tended to perform better for higher fibrosis stages.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study demonstrates that HCV-infected patients can be identified and their fibrosis staged using commonly available EMR-based algorithms.

HCV Screening Behaviors and Infection Status among Vietnamese Americans

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this study was to identify socio-economic and acculturation factors associated with hepatitis C (HCV) screening and infection among US Vietnamese Americans.

METHODS

Participants were recruited from 7 Vietnamese community-based organizations in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The analysis ultimately included 309 participants who participated in a HCV education intervention program.

RESULTS

Overall, 82.5% (255 of 309) intervention participants completed HCV screening over the 6 months prior to the post-intervention assessment. In multivariate-adjusted analysis, participants who lived in Vietnam for 40 years versus 20 years were more likely to receive HCV screening; unemployed individuals were less likely to receive HCV screening than employed people. Among screened participants, 7.5% had HCV infection.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings will guide future culturally and linguistically appropriate interventions to reduce HCV infection and HCV-related liver cancer.