ArticleUnited European gastroenterology journal2015
Screening for hepatitis C in average and high-risk populations of Qatar using rapid point-of-care testing.
Article in United European gastroenterology journal, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Genetic Determinants of Infectious Diseases in the Qatari Population.Epidemiologia (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- The Improvement in 1-Year Survival Rate of Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma BCLC Stage A and B after the Implementation of Comprehensive Management.Journal of gastrointestinal cancer · 2020Article
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Authors and funding
14 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundScreening for hepatitis C has been found to be beneficial in high-risk individuals and 'baby boomers'.
objectiveOur aim was to screen for hepatitis C in average and high-risk individuals and compare the disease characteristics and response to treatment among the screened group (SG) and non-screened group (NSG).
methodCommunity-based screening for hepatitis C was done in the average and high-risk populations of Qatar. Screening was done using rapid point-of-care testing. All patients with stage 1 fibrosis on liver biopsy were treated with pegylated interferon and ribavirin.
resultsIn total, 13,704 people were screened and 272 (2%, 95% CI (1.8-2.2%) had positive antibodies to hepatitis C. During the same period, 237 non-screened patients (NSG) with hepatitis C were referred for treatment. Alanine and aspartate aminotransferases (ALT, AST) and overall fibrosis were significantly lower in the SG as compared with the NSG (p = 0.04, 0.04 and 0.01, respectively). The response to treatment was similar in the SG as compared with the NSG (sustained viral response 61.7 % versus 69.1%, p = 0.55). Average-risk patients had significantly lower ALT levels (p = 0.04) but had similar response to treatment as the high-risk individuals (sustained viral response 63.2 % versus 61%, p = 0.87).
conclusionScreening detects hepatitis C with lesser fibrosis but does not result in better response to pegylated interferon and ribavirin as compared with non-screened patients.
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