TY - JOUR
T1 - Correlates of disease-specific knowledge among patients with chronic hepatitis B or hepatitis C infection in India
AU - Tamayo, Aracely
AU - Shah, Samir R.
AU - Bhatia, Shobna
AU - Chowdhury, Abhijit
AU - Rao, Padaki N.
AU - Dinh, Phillip
AU - Knox, Steven J.
AU - Gaggar, Anuj
AU - Subramanian, G. Mani
AU - Mohan, Viswanathan G.
AU - Sood, Ajit
AU - Mehta, Rajiv
AU - Sarin, Shiv K.
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was funded by Gilead Sciences.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016, The Author(s).
PY - 2016/11/1
Y1 - 2016/11/1
N2 - Background: Patient knowledge about chronic diseases increases health-promoting behaviors and improves clinical outcomes. We assessed this association for patients with chronic viral hepatitis. Methods: Untreated patients chronically infected with HBV (n = 500) or HCV (n = 500) were enrolled at 19 centers across India. A survey, adapted from the US CDC National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) questionnaire, was administered at a single visit to assess HBV/HCV knowledge, community disease awareness, treatment quality, and healthcare barriers. We developed the India Hepatitis Knowledge Index (IHKI), where a higher IHKI score (range 0–10) indicates increased hepatitis knowledge. Multivariate regression models evaluated demographic and disease factors. Results: The overall mean IHKI score was 5.6 out of 10, with higher scores among patients with HBV (5.9) than HCV (5.3); p < 0.001. In HBV patients lower IHKI was associated with shorter disease duration, government clinic attendance (p < 0.0001), fewer personal experiences with HBV (p < 0.0001), and residing in northern India. Among HCV patients, lower IHKI was associated with shorter disease duration, community (p < 0.0001) and government clinic attendance (p < 0.0001), and fewer personal experiences with HCV (p < 0.0001). Among HBV patients, IHKI was independently associated with disease severity as assessed by MELD score, albumin, and APRI. This association was strongest for HBV patients with elevated ALT and HBV DNA >2000 IU/ml. Among HCV patients, IHKI results had no significant associations with disease severity. Conclusions: The association of IHKI with disease underscores the need to understand connections between hepatitis knowledge and progression and may guide efforts to address patient education and awareness of chronic viral hepatitis in India.
AB - Background: Patient knowledge about chronic diseases increases health-promoting behaviors and improves clinical outcomes. We assessed this association for patients with chronic viral hepatitis. Methods: Untreated patients chronically infected with HBV (n = 500) or HCV (n = 500) were enrolled at 19 centers across India. A survey, adapted from the US CDC National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) questionnaire, was administered at a single visit to assess HBV/HCV knowledge, community disease awareness, treatment quality, and healthcare barriers. We developed the India Hepatitis Knowledge Index (IHKI), where a higher IHKI score (range 0–10) indicates increased hepatitis knowledge. Multivariate regression models evaluated demographic and disease factors. Results: The overall mean IHKI score was 5.6 out of 10, with higher scores among patients with HBV (5.9) than HCV (5.3); p < 0.001. In HBV patients lower IHKI was associated with shorter disease duration, government clinic attendance (p < 0.0001), fewer personal experiences with HBV (p < 0.0001), and residing in northern India. Among HCV patients, lower IHKI was associated with shorter disease duration, community (p < 0.0001) and government clinic attendance (p < 0.0001), and fewer personal experiences with HCV (p < 0.0001). Among HBV patients, IHKI was independently associated with disease severity as assessed by MELD score, albumin, and APRI. This association was strongest for HBV patients with elevated ALT and HBV DNA >2000 IU/ml. Among HCV patients, IHKI results had no significant associations with disease severity. Conclusions: The association of IHKI with disease underscores the need to understand connections between hepatitis knowledge and progression and may guide efforts to address patient education and awareness of chronic viral hepatitis in India.
KW - Disease knowledge
KW - Hepatitis B virus
KW - Hepatitis C virus
KW - India
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U2 - 10.1007/s12072-016-9728-3
DO - 10.1007/s12072-016-9728-3
M3 - Article
C2 - 27146692
AN - SCOPUS:84965025934
SN - 1936-0533
VL - 10
SP - 988
EP - 995
JO - Hepatology International
JF - Hepatology International
IS - 6
ER -