Getting to full disclosure: HCV testing and status disclosure behaviors among PWID and their injecting partners

People who inject drugs (PWID) face a substantial risk of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, often in the context of multiple injecting partnerships. The disclosure of HCV status to injecting partners holds significant implications for prevention and care among PWID.

We used cross-sectional dyadic survey data (collected from both members of injecting partnerships) to estimate the prevalence of HCV-status disclosure between PWID and their injecting partners, overall and by partnership HCV infection status.

Across the two study sites (San Francisco and Montreal), 91% of participants self-reported receiving an HCV test, resulting in 162 individuals and 131 partnerships. A majority (57%) self-reported being HCV positive. HCV status disclosure was prevalent overall (79%) and was most common (41%) with partnerships where both partners' status was positive (+ / +) but less common (17%) when one partner was positive ( ±) and when neither partner was positive (-/-) (32%); no disclosure was more common when both partners were negative (-/-) (50%).

Overall, our study demonstrated a high prevalence of HCV testing and subsequent disclosure of HCV status within injecting partnerships. This presents an opportunity to leverage these relationships for treatment linkage and prevention messaging.