Background: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection will result in liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma, which are the leading causes of death in Taiwan. The prevalence of antibody to HCV (anti-HCV) was 2%-3% in Taipei city. However, it can be as high as 20% to 60% in Central and Southern part of Taiwan. In I-Lan, a county located in northern-east Taiwan, there is no large-scale investigation yet. The objective of this research is to evaluate the prevelance and risk factors of anti-HCV positivity in three towns of I-Lan county.
Methods: Blood sampled from people in San-Shing, Tou-Cheng and Tong-Shan was collected from October 1999 to June 2000. Totally, 1,316 persons (607 male, 790 female, mean age: 62 +/- 12 years old) were enrolled. Anti-HCV was measured by a second-generation enzyme immunoassay. Risk factors analysis was performed in anti-HCV positive subjects and age-sex matched anti-HCV negative controls.
Results: Sixty-seven persons (5.1%) had positive serum anti-HCV. The prevalence rate of anti-HCV increased with age. San-Shing and Tong-Shan showed a higher anti-HCV prevalence rate than Tou-Cheng (6.0% and 8.3% vs. 3.2%, p = 0.007). Risk factors analysis showed that people with positive serum anti-HCV had a significantly high rate of surgical history, usage of nondisposable needles injection, frequent nondisposable needles injection, frequent dental therapy, and a lower level of education than the anti-HCV negative counterpart (p < 0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that age > 60 years, surgical history and frequent nondisposable needles injection were significantly independent risk factors of positive anti-HCV (p < 0.05).
Conclusions: The prevalence rate of anti-HCV in I-Lan county was 5.1%. Age > 60 years, surgical history and frequent nondisposable needles injection were the significant risk factors of HCV infection in I-Lan area.