Relationship between hepatitis C clinical testing site and linkage to care

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends one-time hepatitis C virus (HCV) testing of the population born between 1945 and 1965 with follow-up RNA testing for those with reactive serology. To increase the rate of diagnosis, testing may be considered in settings other than outpatient clinics (OC), such as inpatient wards (IP) or emergency department (ED).

We used electronic medical records to create a retrospective cohort with reactive HCV serology between 2005 and 2010 at an urban safety net hospital. We determined factors associated with linkage to HCV care as measured by HCV RNA testing, and we evaluated the rate of linkage to care according to diagnosis location (OC, IP, or ED).

Individuals, 37 828, were tested and 5885 (16%) were reactive. Seropositivity was similar across all sites. Of the 4466 patients who met inclusion criteria, 3400 (76%) were diagnosed in the OC, whereas 967 (22%) and 99 (2%) were tested in the IP and the ED, respectively. A total of 2135 (48%) underwent HCV RNA testing. Using multivariable regression modeling, the following factors were independently associated with HCV RNA testing: diagnosis in the OC (odds ratio [OR], 1.64; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.42-1.90); age at diagnosis in decades (OR, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.98-0.99); private insurance (OR, 1.17; 95% CI, 1.01-1.34); and ≥10 visits after diagnosis (OR, 2.15; 95% CI, 1.89-2.44).

There is an opportunity to increase HCV diagnosis by testing in sites other than the OC, but this opportunity needs to be coupled with robust initiatives to improve linkage to care.