Screening for Hepatitis C Virus Reinfection Using a Behaviour-Based Risk Score among Men Who Have Sex with Men with...

Area of Science:

• Infectious Diseases
• Hepatology
• Public Health

Background:

• Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) reinfection is a concern in HIV-positive men who have sex with men (MSM).
• Effective screening tools are needed to identify individuals at risk for HCV reinfection.
• The HCV-MOSAIC risk score was initially developed for primary HCV infection.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the predictive capacity of the HCV-MOSAIC risk score for screening HCV reinfection.
• To assess the score's utility in a cohort of HIV-positive MSM.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of the MOSAIC cohort data (103 HIV-positive MSM).
• Assessed predictive capacity using Area Under the Receiver Operating Characteristic (AUROC) curve.
• Calculated sensitivity and specificity using a validated cut-off (≥2.0).
• Performed external validation on a separate cohort.

Main Results:

• The HCV-MOSAIC risk score demonstrated an AUROC of 0.74 (95% CI: 0.63-0.84).
• Group sex was identified as a significant factor increasing predictive capacity.
• Internal validation yielded 70.4% sensitivity and 59.2% specificity.
• External validation showed 44.0% sensitivity and 71.2% specificity.

Conclusions:

• The HCV-MOSAIC risk score may serve as a useful screening tool for HCV reinfection in HIV-positive MSM.
• The score can aid in guiding HCV-RNA testing decisions in sexual health and HIV-care settings.
• Further validation may refine its application in clinical practice.