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Abstract #147595

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Edmund J. Bini, MD, MPH¹, Steven Kritz, MD², Lawrence S. Brown, MD, MPH, FASAM², Jim Robinson, MEd³, Don Alderson, MS⁴, Patrick McAuliffe, MBA, LADC⁵, Cheryl Smith, MD⁶, and John Rotrosen, MD⁷. (1) Division of Gastroenterology, VA NY Harbor Healthcare System and NYU School of Medicine, 423 East 23rd Street, New York, NY 10010, (2) Division of Medical Services, Research and Information Technology, Addiction Research and Treatment Corporation, 22 Chapel Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201, 718 260-2955, skritz@artcny.org, (3) Nathan Kline Institute, 140 Old Orangeburg Road, Orangeburg, NY 10962, (4) NYS Psychiatric Institute, New York Presbyterian Hospital, 1051 Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10032, (5) Connecticut Renaissance, Inc., PO Box 1520, Norwalk, CT 06852, (6) Department of Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, 1 Gustave Levy Place, New York, NY 10029, (7) Department of Psychiatry, NYU School of Medicine and VA New York Harbor Healthcare System, 423 East 23rd Street, New York, NY 10010

Background: Although substance abuse treatment programs are an important point of contact to provide health services to diagnose, treat and prevent transmission of hepatitis B (HBV) and hepatitis C (HCV) viral infection, little is known about the availability of these services in substance abuse programs. This study evaluated the prevalence and spectrum of HBV and HCV services offered by drug treatment programs in the U.S. Methods: We conducted a questionnaire-based survey of drug treatment programs within the National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network. Results: Completed questionnaires were received from 269 (84.3%) of the 319 program administrators. Although 78.7% of programs reported that they offered ongoing hepatitis training for clinical staff, only a minority of programs offered testing for HBsAg (37.7%), HBsAb (36.7%), HBcAb (27.7%), HBV DNA (7.8%), HCV antibodies (52.9%), HCV qualitative (10.1%) or quantitative (8.9%) PCR, and HCV genotyping (11.6%). Hepatitis A and B vaccinations were offered by 68.3% of programs, either on site (19.3%) or via referral (49.1%). Programs having clear guidelines for hepatitis testing were significantly more likely to offer each of the hepatitis tests as compared with those that did not have clear guidelines. Only 28.9% of programs offered HCV treatment either on-site or via referral. Conclusions: Despite the importance of substance abuse in sustaining the hepatitis epidemics in the U.S., many substance abuse treatment programs do not offer comprehensive HBV, HCV and hepatitis vaccination services. Public health interventions to improve access to hepatitis testing, treatment and prevention for substance abusers are needed.

Learning Objectives:

• To evaluate the presence of specific services for hepatitis B and C viruses in substance abuse treatment programs

Keywords: Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No
Any institutionally-contracted trials related to this submission?

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

• Audio (mp3) recording
• Slides (pdf) or Handout
• Multimedia recording