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A comparative study of patients’ knowledge about hepatitis C in the United States and in urban and rural China

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Abstract

Background

Hepatitis C (HCV) is the predominant cause of chronic liver disease in the USA and is increasingly recognized as a common cause of liver disease in China. Studies of HCV patients in the US found major gaps in knowledge but little is known about HCV knowledge among patients in China.

Methods

We conducted a survey in three cohorts of HCV patients in Ann Arbor, MI, US, and in Bei**g and Hebei, China, between April and November 2012 to compare patient knowledge about HCV in the US and in urban and rural China.

Results

A total of 525 patients (US 186; Bei**g 186; Hebei 153) were enrolled. Mean ages of the three cohorts ranged from 52–56 years; 63 % of US and 47 % of Chinese patients were males; 63 % of US and 39 % of Bei**g patients had college or postgraduate education compared to 0.7 % in Hebei. More than half of the US and Bei**g patients but only 13 % of Hebei patients had received HCV treatment. The average HCV knowledge score out of a total of 16 in the US, Bei**g, and Hebei was 12.7, 11.7, and 6.4, respectively (p < 0.001). Study site, education, gender, and prior HCV treatment were independent predictors of HCV knowledge.

Conclusions

Knowledge about HCV in the US and Bei**g patients was similar and significantly better than in Hebei patients. Our data show that efforts to improve HCV knowledge are necessary for all three cohorts and should be tailored to the education level and health literacy of the patients.

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Acknowledgments

Compliance with ethical requirements and Conflict of interest

Support for this study was provided by the University of Michigan Health System—Peking University Health Science Center Joint Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (LW and ASL), and the Tuktawa Foundation (ASL). The University of Michigan Medical School provided travel funds for XC, ZG, and CC for this M1 medical student summer project. Anna S. Lok has received research grants from Abbott, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Gilead, Idenix, and Merck and has served as an advisor for Gilead and Janssen. Lai Wei has received research grants from Roche and Bristol-Myers Squibb and has served as an advisor for Gilead and Abbott. All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2008. Informed consent was obtained from all patients prior to inclusion in the study. Elizabeth Wu, **sui Chen, Zhe Guan, Claudia Cao, Huiying Rao, Bo Feng, Melvin Chan, Sherry Fu, and Andy Lin declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University of Michigan, 1500 E Medical Center Drive, 3912 Taubman Center, SPC 5362, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA

    Elizabeth Wu, Melvin Chan, Sherry Fu & Anna S. Lok

  2. Medical School, University of Michigan, 1301 Catherine St, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    **sui Chen, Zhe Guan & Claudia Cao

  3. Peking University People’s Hospital, Peking University Hepatology Institute, Peking University Health Science Center, 11 South **zhimen St, Bei**g, 100044, China

    Huiying Rao, Bo Feng & Lai Wei

  4. The Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience Institute, University of Michigan, 205 Zina Pitcher Pl, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA

    Andy Lin

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  1. Elizabeth Wu
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Correspondence to Anna S. Lok.

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Wu, E., Chen, X., Guan, Z. et al. A comparative study of patients’ knowledge about hepatitis C in the United States and in urban and rural China. Hepatol Int 9, 58–66 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12072-014-9559-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12072-014-9559-z

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