Assessing the rate of non-linkage to care and identifying barriers in individuals living with hepatitis B. Results of the LINK-B study
Feliu-Prius, Anna (Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron)
Barreira-Diaz, Ana (Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron. Institut de Recerca)
Rando, Ariadna (Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron. Institut de Recerca)
Vargas-Accarino, Elena (Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron. Institut de Recerca)
Palom, Adriana (Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron. Institut de Recerca)
Vico-Romero, Judit (Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron. Institut de Recerca)
Ruiz Cobo, Juan Carlos (Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron. Institut de Recerca)
Riveiro Barciela, Mar (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Medicina)
Rodríguez Frías, Francisco (Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron. Institut de Recerca)
Esteban, Rafael (Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron. Institut de Recerca)
Buti, Maria (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Medicina)

Fecha:	2024
Resumen:	Background & Aims: Hepatitis B infection is the most frequent cause of chronic hepatitis and liver cancer worldwide. Active searching for individuals with chronic hepatitis B has been proposed as a strategy to achieve the elimination of this virus. The primary aim of this study was to link to specialists HBsAg-positive individuals detected in a laboratory database and to characterize individuals who were not linked to care. Methods: We performed a retrospective-prospective evaluation of all HBsAg-positive serum samples identified in the central laboratory of the Northern Barcelona area between January 2018 and June 2022. After reviewing the patients' clinical charts, all those not linked to care were given an appointment with a specialist. Results: Medical records of 2765 different HBsAg-positive serum samples were reviewed and 2590 individuals were identified: 844 (32. 6%) were not linked to a specialist, 653 were candidates for linkage, and 344 attended the specialist visit. The two main reasons why they were not under specialist care were administrative issues, such as living in another region (12. 1%) and lacking contact details (4. 1%), and low life expectancy (2. 8%). Individuals who did not attend their scheduled visit were mainly young [38. 1 ± 12. 9 vs. 44. 0 ± 14. 0 (p <. 001)], non-White European [75. 3% vs. 58. 1% (p <. 001)] and men [70. 7% vs. 56. 4% (p <. 001)]. Conclusions: One in every three HBsAg-positive individuals in our setting was not currently under specialist care. Of particular note, half of them had never attended a specialist consultation, an essential step for evaluating the disease and starting therapy in some countries.
Nota:	Altres ajuts: acords transformatius de la UAB
Derechos:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, sempre que no sigui amb finalitats comercials, i sempre que es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Lengua:	Anglès
Documento:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Materia:	Access to care ; Barriers ; Cascade of care ; Hepatitis B ; Linkage to care ; Retention in care
Publicado en:	Liver International, Vol. 44, Num. 3 (march 2024) , p. 706-714, ISSN 1478-3231

DOI: 10.1111/liv.15814

9 p, 513.6 KB

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