Prevalence and Risk Factors of Hepatitis C
among Maintenance Hemodialysis
Patients at a Tertiary-Care Hospital
in Coimbatore, India
725-728
Correspondence
Dr. P. Surendra Kumar
Department of Nephrology
PSGIMSR, Coimbatore - 641004.
Tamilnadu, India.
Email: drpsurendra@gmail.com
ABSTRACT Background: Haemodialysis (HD) patients are at an increased risk of Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, which is significantly associated with increased morbidity and mortality. This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of HCV infection among patients who were put on maintenance HD and its associated risk factors.
Methods: A total of 145 patients (102 males and 43 females) were included in the study. The medical records were reviewed for details regarding history, age, sex, duration of dialysis, dialyzer reuse, blood transfusions, number of dialysis centers and other biochemical data.
Results: Out of 145 patients 18 (12.4%) patients were found to be anti-HCV positive. The mean age of the HCV positive patients was 45.8 ± 13.9 years. There were 13 (72.2%) males in the HCVpositive group and 89 (70.1%) males in the HCV negative group. The mean duration of the dialysis among HCV positive group was 36.6 ± 31.6 months, while it was 18.5 ± 21.2 months for HCV negative ones. The duration of dialysis was significantly longer in HCV positive patients (p = 0.002). Similarly, patients who had dialysis at more than one centre had a higher (55.56%) positivity, which was statistically significant (p = 0.001). Binary logistic regression analysis showed that the duration of dialysis and dialysis at more than one centre were the significant variables for increased positivity.
Conclusion: The patients on HD had 12.4% positivity for anti- HCV in our dialysis unit. Further, the present study demonstrated that the duration of haemodialysis and getting the dialysis done at more than one centre were the important risk factors for acquiring HCV infection in these patients.