142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

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304716
Hepatitis C Prevalence Among Persons Who Inject Drugs in New Orleans

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Narquis Barak, MA , Department of Prevention, NO/AIDS Task Force, New Orleans, LA
William T. Robinson, PhD , Evaluation Unit, Department of Health and Hospitals Louisiana Office of Public Health STD/HIV Program, New Orleans, LA
Kiva Fisher, MPH , Department of Prevention, NO/AIDS Task Force, New Orleans, LA
Katherine Naugle, MPH, MSW , Department of Prevention, NO/AIDS Task Force, New Orleans, LA
Meagan C. Zarwell, MA , School of Public Health, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, SC
Background

Hepatitis C (HCV) has surpassed HIV as a cause of death in the United States. An estimated 3.9 million people are chronically infected and many are thought to be unaware of their status. While endemic among injection drug users (IDU), limited screening within this hard-to-reach population makes assessing the prevalence of HCV problematic.

Methods

In 2012, an additional HCV testing component was added to the New Orleans arm of the National HIV Behavioral Surveillance. 484 IDU were categorized into groups of negative, previously known, and previously unknown HCV status. Demographic and risk factors associated with HCV status were examined using bivariate and logistic models.

Results

Overall, 55% of participants screened positive for HCV. Of those, more than half were unaware of their status. HCV status was significantly related to demographic factors of age, incarceration, employment, and health insurance as well as risk behaviors of sharing injection equipment and primary drug injected. In the sample, 30-39 year olds were most likely to be unaware of their status. Speedball injectors had the highest HCV prevalence (67%).  IDU who reported sharing equipment (63%) and syringes (63.5%) were more likely to be HCV positive.

Discussion

HCV screening of IDU must be prioritized in order to curb transmission, given that many IDU are unaware of their status. Prevention messages must emphasize risks associated with sharing both syringes and equipment. Further research is needed to understand differential HCV risk patterns.

Learning Areas:

Epidemiology
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Public health or related research
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
Describe Hepatitis C prevalence among injection drug users in New Orleans. Identify demographic and risk factors associated with HCV status. Discuss relationship between awareness of HCV status and risk behaviors.

Keyword(s): Hepatitis C, Drug Abuse

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have been Project Coordinator of the National HIV Behavioral Surveillance (NHBS) in New Orleans for over five years. I have been researching and conducting HIV and HCV counseling with the injection drug using population in New Orleans since 2009. I completed all my doctoral coursework and was a doctoral candidate at Harvard University, in Social Anthropology with a focus on psychiatric/medical anthropology.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

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.

Back to: 4285.0: HIV, Infectious Diseases, and Co-Morbidities