Antibody Screening And Awareness Survey Of Hepatitis C Among Community Elderly Residents

Objective:To research the positive rate of hepatitis C virus(HCV)antibody among community residents over 60 years old in Taiyuan,and the cognition for HCV knowledge and the various influencing factors for cognition were further analyzed.Which contributed to the prevention and treatment of hepatitis C in Taiyuan City by providing data and basic information.In addition,this work also provides reference for the establishment of publicity and education,scientific and precise prevention and control of hepatitis C for elderly residents in the community.Methods:Sampling method: Multi-stage sampling method was adopted.From April to July 2021,four main urban areas were randomly selected from six main urban areas in Taiyuan,including Xiaodian District,Xinghualing District,Yingze District and Wanbailin District.In each main urban area,1～2 communities were randomly selected,and a total of 5communities were investigated.The 5 communities were Bindong Community(belonging to Xiaodian District),Sanqiao Street Community(belonging to Xinghualing District),Shuangtaxi Street 2 Community(belonging to Yingze District),Laojunying Community(belonging to Yingze District),and Guoxing Community(belonging to Wanbailin District).A total of 445 people were screened for antibodies and 450 questionnaires were distributed.HCV antibody detection:(1)Methods: HCV antibodies in blood samples were detected by hepatitis C virus antibody detection kit purchased from Hangzhou Abo Biomedical Co.,Ltd.(2)The in-depth interviews involved positive residents,general community residents,community service center doctors and community service center managers.Investigation method for the cognition of hepatitis C knowledge: Field questionnaire was carried out to research the knowledge about hepatitis C.The information of the respondents was collected,i.e.,demographic data,family economic status(per capita monthly income,main source of income,main household expenditure,etc.),educational level,general knowledge of hepatitis C,occupation,attitude towards hepatitis C patients,privacy issues,and medical willingness.Count data were described and analyzed by frequency distribution.Univariate analysis and multivariate analysis were performed using Logistic regression model,with a test levelα = 0.05 and two-sided test.Results:A total of 5 patients were found to be HCV antibody positive,with a positive rate of 1.12%,including 4 females and 1 male,accompanying a positive rate of 1.38% and 0.64%,respectively.In-depth interviews found that community residents had poor knowledge for hepatitis C,and community doctors knew little about it.In addition,there was widespread discrimination against hepatitis C patients,and the community’s prevention and control capacity were also weak,because of lacking of drugs and equipment about hepatitis C.The survey results showed that the community doctors lacked experience in treating hepatitis C patients.Moreover,almost all residents had not attended community health lectures for more than a year,let alone held health lectures related to hepatitis C.The awareness rate of hepatitis C knowledge was 23.4 %.The knowledge questionnaire contained 8 items of general knowledge of hepatitis C prevention and treatment.The correct answer was considered 1 point,the wrong answer or not knowing was determined 0 point,and the correct answer of 6 questions or more was known.The question with the highest accuracy rate was “Can hepatitis C cause severe liver injury or even death’’(the correct answer was yes),and the accuracy rate was 54.6 %.The correct rate of the question “Can hepatitis C be prevented by vaccine” was the lowest,only 9.9 %(the correct answer was no).The results of univariate analysis showed that there were statistically significant differences between education,occupation and family income(P < 0.05).There was no significant difference in high-risk behaviors between gender,age and partner(P > 0.05).The results of multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that education level and occupation were the factors affecting the cognitive rate.Compared with junior high school or below,the cognitive rate of junior college or above was the highest(OR = 9.599,95%CI:4.221～21.830),followed by high school or technical secondary school(OR = 2.637,95%CI:1.464～4.751).Compared with farmers,medical workers had the highest awareness(OR =13.725,95%CI: 2.419～77.875),followed by teachers(OR = 9.357,95%CI: 1.714～51.077),workers(OR = 7.221,95%CI: 1.647～31.648)and other occupations(OR = 5.266,95%CI:1.093～25.373).In addition to general knowledge of hepatitis C,the survey also investigated attitudes toward patients with hepatitis C,whether they have been tested for the virus,why they have not been tested,their willingness to treat the disease,and their preferred channels of publicity.In a survey on attitudes towards hepatitis C patients,the results showed that 88.9% would not like to eat with one of them,87.5% would not like to shake hands or hug one of them,and 95.7% would not like their children to fall in love with or marry a hepatitis C patient.In addition,only 5 % residents had been previously tested for hepatitis C.Among the reasons for not testing,85.8% of people did not know about hepatitis C.In terms of willingness to treat,97.9% were willing to accept professional treatment recommendations,and 97.4%were willing to accept treatment.The most preferred way for residents to acquire hepatitis C knowledge was to conduct health education lectures,followed by medical staff consultation or notification,and the least preferred way was the Internet.Conclusions:The positive rate of hepatitis C virus antibody in elderly residents over 60 years old in Taiyuan City is high,and there is a lack of willingness to actively detect.Relevant departments should increase publicity and strengthen the detection of the elderly.The community’s ability to prevent and control hepatitis C is weak,strengthen the construction of community hepatitis C prevention and control ability,and form a community hepatitis C prevention and control model.The education level and occupation were one of the main reasons for the low awareness rate of hepatitis C,so the publicity and education for hepatitis C should be enhanced.The elderly had strong discrimination against patients,which was related to the low cognitive rate.Effective publicity channels should be selected to strengthen the publicity and education of hepatitis C knowledge and improve the awareness rate.