TY - JOUR
T1 - Risk factors associated with Hepatitis C among female substance users enrolled in community-based HIV prevention studies
AU - Nurutdinova, Diana
AU - Abdallah, Arbi B.
AU - Bradford, Susan
AU - O'Leary, Catina C.
AU - Cottler, Linda B.
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was supported by grants from NIAAA (AA12111) for Sister to Sister Project and NIDA (DA 11622) for Women Teaching Women.
PY - 2011
Y1 - 2011
N2 - Background: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is one of the most frequent chronic blood-borne infections in the United States. The epidemiology of HCV transmission is not completely understood, particularly in women and minorities. Findings. We examined the HCV associated risk factors in substance abusing females involved in National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) funded HIV prevention studies of street recruited women. As a part of the 12 month follow-up, participants were interviewed about substance use and sexual risk behaviors, including drug implement sharing practices, tattoos, body piercing and blood transfusions and the sharing of personal hygiene equipment including tweezers, toothbrushes and razors. Urine and blood testing for HCV antibody (Ab), HIV and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) was conducted at the time of assessment. Among 782 predominantly African American women, 162 (21%) tested positive for HCV Ab. Older age (p < 0.001), history of injection drug use (p < 0.001), lifetime crack cocaine use (p = 0.004) and having a tattoo (p = 0.01) were significantly associated with HCV Ab positivity. Other risk factors previously reported in association with HCV Ab positivity such as sexual risk behaviors were not significantly associated with the presence of a positive HCV Ab. Conclusions: This large community based sample of predominantly African American substance abusing women showed high prevalence of HCV Ab positivity and low awareness of their HCV serostatus. Our study demonstrated that in addition to intravenous drug use (IDU), other factors were significantly associated with HCV Ab positivity such as having a tattoo and a lifetime history of crack use. Other potential routes of HCV transmission should be further studied among high risk female populations.
AB - Background: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is one of the most frequent chronic blood-borne infections in the United States. The epidemiology of HCV transmission is not completely understood, particularly in women and minorities. Findings. We examined the HCV associated risk factors in substance abusing females involved in National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) funded HIV prevention studies of street recruited women. As a part of the 12 month follow-up, participants were interviewed about substance use and sexual risk behaviors, including drug implement sharing practices, tattoos, body piercing and blood transfusions and the sharing of personal hygiene equipment including tweezers, toothbrushes and razors. Urine and blood testing for HCV antibody (Ab), HIV and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) was conducted at the time of assessment. Among 782 predominantly African American women, 162 (21%) tested positive for HCV Ab. Older age (p < 0.001), history of injection drug use (p < 0.001), lifetime crack cocaine use (p = 0.004) and having a tattoo (p = 0.01) were significantly associated with HCV Ab positivity. Other risk factors previously reported in association with HCV Ab positivity such as sexual risk behaviors were not significantly associated with the presence of a positive HCV Ab. Conclusions: This large community based sample of predominantly African American substance abusing women showed high prevalence of HCV Ab positivity and low awareness of their HCV serostatus. Our study demonstrated that in addition to intravenous drug use (IDU), other factors were significantly associated with HCV Ab positivity such as having a tattoo and a lifetime history of crack use. Other potential routes of HCV transmission should be further studied among high risk female populations.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=79953851825&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1186/1756-0500-4-126
DO - 10.1186/1756-0500-4-126
M3 - Article
C2 - 21492467
AN - SCOPUS:79953851825
VL - 4
JO - BMC Research Notes
JF - BMC Research Notes
SN - 1756-0500
M1 - 126
ER -