[Study on hepatitis C intervention measures to improve the referral, treatment, and cure rate in hospitals]

Objective: To explore and discuss hepatitis C processes of diagnosis, treatment, and management through intervention measures as well as the necessity of whole management attempt in education, screening, diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up in hospitals. Method: The baseline status of HCV RNA detection, departmental distribution, consultation requests, specialist visits, and diagnosis and treatment of anti-HCV positive patients who visited the outpatient and inpatient departments of the Infectious Diseases of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University from November 2019 to November 2020 was analyzed. Statistical analysis was re-conducted on the status of HCV RNA detection, departmental distribution, consultation requests, specialist visits, and treatment among anti-HCV positive patients following the implementation of intervention measures for patients and clinicians in the hospital. The differences were evaluated using the Pearson chi-square test. The Wilson score and the gamma distribution method were used to calculate the 95% confidence interval (95% CI). Results: The rates of consultation, referral, diagnosis, and treatment did not increase significantly following the intervention in the hospital for hepatitis C, and there was no statistically significant difference compared with the data before the intervention. Conclusion: The vast majority of anti-HCV-positive patients in non-infectious and a few infectious disease departments did not receive timely disease assessment, referral, diagnosis, and treatment because hospitals lacked a standard, consistent, and stringent whole management process for hepatitis C screening, thereby causing missed detection, diagnosis, and treatment.