Turkish Journal of Gastroenterology
Original Article

Changes in Hepatitis C Awareness in Different Disciplines During COVID-19

1.

Department of Gastroenterology, Gaziantep University Faculty of Medicine, Gaziantep, Turkey

2.

Department of Internal Medicine, Gaziantep University Faculty of Medicine, Gaziantep, Turkey

3.

Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Gaziantep University School of Medicine, Gaziantep, Turkey

Turk J Gastroenterol 2022; 33: 838-843
DOI: 10.5152/tjg.2022.21726
Read: 1306 Downloads: 493 Published: 01 October 2022

Background: We aimed to determine the awareness of referring hepatitis C virus patients to the relevant departments and the effect of the pandemic period on this subject.

Methods: A total of 65 743 patients with anti-hepatitis C virus requests before and during the COVID-19 pandemic were retrospectively screened. Anti-hepatitis C virus-positive patients were divided into 5 groups according to age distribution. The distribution of patients with anti-hepatitis C virus positivity was compared according to age groups, before and during COVID-19. Anti-hepatitis C virus-pos- itive patients who were not requested hepatitis C virus RNA were evaluated individually according to the departments, and hepatitis C virus awareness was compared before and during COVID-19.

Results: Anti-hepatitis C virus positivity rate was 1.54% before COVID-19; this rate was 2.15% during COVID-19. When the anti-hep- atitis C virus positivity rate was compared in terms of age distribution according to before and during COVID-19, it was observed that there was a statistically significant decrease in the >65 age group in the COVID-19 period (P = .004). It was found that 216 (32%) of the patients who had anti-hepatitis C virus (+) before COVID-19 and 231 (48.1%) of the patients during COVID-19 were not requested hepatitis C virus RNA test (P < .0001). The departments with the highest awareness of hepatitis C virus were gastroenterology, infec- tious diseases, hematology, gynecology and obstetrics, and oncology, while the departments with the lowest hepatitis C virus awareness were ophthalmology, psychiatry, and general surgery. It was found that chronic hepatitis C virus awareness decreased in all departments during COVID-19.

Conclusion: Hepatitis C virus awareness has decreased in all medical departments despite the physician alert system during COVID-19 and also the rate of anti-hepatitis C virus (+) patients decreased in the group aged >65 years during the pandemic.

Cite this article as: Barutçu S, Yıldırım Ç, Yıldırım AE, Konduk BT, Sayiner ZA, Gülşen MT. Changes in hepatitis C awareness in different disciplines during COVID-19. Turk J Gastroenterol. 2022;33(10):838-843.

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