Factors associated to the prevalence of antibodies to hepatitis C virus among patients receiving hemodialysis at selected dialysis centers in Puerto Rico, 2005.

BACKGROUND Limited information about the epidemiology of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is available in hemodialysis patients in Puerto Rico. We assessed the factors associated to the prevalence of antibodies to HCV (anti-HCV) among patients receiving hemodialysis in eight dialysis centers in Puerto Rico. METHODS A systematic sampling design was employed to select a sample of 150 hemodialysis patients (30 anti-HCV+ and 120 anti-HCV-) 21 years and older during 2005. A total of 110 (81.5%) from 135 eligible patients completed a face-to-face interview that gathered data on demographics, and self-reported risk behaviors followed by a clinical record review. Variables that were marginally or significantly associated with the prevalence of anti-HCV (p < 0.10) in the bivariate analyses were considered for inclusion into the multiple logistic regression model to estimate the adjusted prevalence odds ratio (POR). RESULTS Bivariate analysis revealed that age (POR(C) = 3.65, p = 0.05), blood transfusions prior to 1992 (POR(C) = 5.13, p = 0.05), tattooing practices (POR(C) = 13.29, p = 0.04), and illegal drug use (POR(C) = 4.53, p = 0.01) were associated with anti-HCV. Multivariate analysis revealed that blood transfusions prior to 1992 (POR(A) = 11.05; p = 0.04) remained significantly associated with anti-HCV after adjusting for age, tattooing practices, illegal drug use and dialysis center. Age (POR(A) = 5.40; p = 0.06) was marginally associated with anti-HCV after adjusting for blood transfusions prior to 1992, tattooing practices, illegal drug use and dialysis center. CONCLUSIONS The present study showed that the profile of risk factors for the hemodialysis population was similar to the profile of risk factors reported in the general population.