Findings from a Project Which Established Hepatitis C Point-of-Care Testing and Linkage to Care at a Homelessness Service in Adelaide, Australia, 2021–2022
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Methods
2.1. Intervention Design and Recruitment
2.2. Data Collection
2.3. Data Analysis
2.4. Ethics
3. Results
HCV Point-of-Care Testing and Treatment Outcomes
4. Discussion
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
- Pedrana, A.; Munari, S.; Stoové, M.; Doyle, J.; Hellard, M. The phases of hepatitis C elimination: Achieving WHO elimination targets. Lancet Gastroenterol. Hepatol. 2021, 6, 6–8. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Scott, N.; Sacks-Davis, R.; Wade, A.J.; Stoove, M.; Pedrana, A.; Doyle, J.S.; Thompson, A.J.; Wilson, D.P.; Hellard, M.E. Australia needs to increase testing to achieve hepatitis C elimination. Med. J. Aust. 2020, 212, 365–370. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Arum, C.; Fraser, H.; Artenie, A.A.; Bivegete, S.; Trickey, A.; Alary, M.; Astemborski, J.; Iversen, J.; Lim, A.G.; MacGregor, L.; et al. Homelessness, unstable housing, and risk of HIV and hepatitis C virus acquisition among people who inject drugs: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet Public Health 2021, 6, e309–e323. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Hernandez-Con, P.; Wilson, D.L.; Tang, H.; Unigwe, I.; Riaz, M.; Ourhaan, N.; Jiang, X.; Song, H.J.; Joseph, A.; Henry, L.; et al. Hepatitis C Cascade of Care in the Direct-Acting Antivirals Era: A Meta-Analysis. Am. J. Prev. Med. 2023, 65, 1153–1162. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Degenhardt, L.; Grebely, J.; Stone, J.; Hickman, M.; Vickerman, P.; Marshall, B.D.L.; Bruneau, J.; Altice, F.L.; Henderson, G.; Rahimi-Movaghar, A.; et al. Global patterns of opioid use and dependence: Harms to populations, interventions, and future action. Lancet 2019, 394, 1560–1579. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Degenhardt, L.; Webb, P.; Colledge-Frisby, S.; Ireland, J.; Wheeler, A.; Ottaviano, S.; Willing, A.; Kairouz, A.; Cunningham, E.B.; Hajarizadeh, B.; et al. Epidemiology of injecting drug use, prevalence of injecting-related harm, and exposure to behavioural and environmental risks among people who inject drugs: A systematic review. Lancet Glob. Health 2023, 11, e659–e672. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Whittaker, E.; Swift, W.; Roxburgh, A.; Dietze, P.; Cogger, S.; Bruno, R.; Sindicich, N.; Burns, L. Multiply disadvantaged: Health and service utilisation factors faced by homeless injecting drug consumers in Australia. Drug Alcohol Rev. 2015, 34, 379–387. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Topp, L.; Iversen, J.; Baldry, E.; Maher, L. Housing instability among people who inject drugs: Results from the Australian needle and syringe program survey. J. Urban Health 2013, 90, 699–716. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- McCartney, E.M.; Ralton, L.; Dawe, J.; Richmond, J.; Zobel, J.; Wigg, A.; Cock, V.; Tse, E.Y.; Rees, T.; Shaw, D.; et al. Point of care testing for hepatitis C in the priority settings of mental health, prisons, and drug and alcohol facilities—The PROMPt study. Clin. Infect. Dis. 2024, 79, 965–973. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Bajis, S.; Grebely, J.; Cooper, L.; Smith, J.; Owen, G.; Chudleigh, A.; Hajarizadeh, B.; Martinello, M.; Adey, S.; Read, P.; et al. Hepatitis C virus testing, liver disease assessment and direct-acting antiviral treatment uptake and outcomes in a service for people who are homeless in Sydney, Australia: The LiveRLife homelessness study. J. Viral Hepat. 2019, 26, 969–979. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Harney, B.L.; Whitton, B.; Lim, C.; Paige, E.; McDonald, B.; Nolan, S.; Pemberton, D.; Hellard, M.E.; Doyle, J.S. Quantitative evaluation of an integrated nurse model of care providing hepatitis C treatment to people attending homeless services in Melbourne, Australia. Int. J. Drug Policy 2019, 72, 195–198. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Grebely, J.; Gilliver, R.; McNaughton, T.; Conway, A.; Cunningham, E.; Henderson, C.; Hadlow, B.; Molloy, K.; Doab, A.; Tillakeratne, S.; et al. Single-visit hepatitis C point-of-care testing, linkage to nursing care, and peer-supported treatment among people with recent injecting drug use at a peer-led needle and syringe program: The TEMPO Pilot Study. Int. J. Drug Policy 2023, 114, 103982. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
Characteristic | n (%) |
---|---|
Sex | |
Male | 182 (79) |
Female | 46 (20) |
Not recorded | 2 (1) |
Age group (years) | |
18–29 | 21 (9) |
30–39 | 58 (25) |
40–49 | 69 (30) |
50+ | 75 (33) |
Not recorded | 1 (0.4) |
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander | |
Yes | 65 (28) |
No | 165 (72) |
Not recorded | 0 (0) |
Ever previously HCV tested | |
Yes | 130 (57) |
No | 69 (30) |
Unsure | 29 (13) |
Not recorded | 2 (1) |
Is it important for you to get your hepatitis C result on the same days as getting tested? | |
Yes | 194 (84%) |
No | 33 (14%) |
Unsure | 0 (0%) |
Not reported | 6 (3%) |
If you could choose which type of testing for hepatitis C would you prefer: | |
Blood taken from my vein with results available in 1 week? | 9 (4%) |
Finger prick test with results available same day? | 215 (93%) |
Not reported | 3 (1%) |
HCV: hepatitis c virus |
Disclaimer/Publisher’s Note: The statements, opinions and data contained in all publications are solely those of the individual author(s) and contributor(s) and not of MDPI and/or the editor(s). MDPI and/or the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to people or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content. |
© 2024 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Share and Cite
McCartney, E.M.; Dawe, J.; Ralton, L.; Stewart, J.; Richmond, J.A.; Wigg, A.; Cock, V.; Tse, E.Y.; Rees, T.; Shaw, D.; et al. Findings from a Project Which Established Hepatitis C Point-of-Care Testing and Linkage to Care at a Homelessness Service in Adelaide, Australia, 2021–2022. Viruses 2024, 16, 1882. https://doi.org/10.3390/v16121882
McCartney EM, Dawe J, Ralton L, Stewart J, Richmond JA, Wigg A, Cock V, Tse EY, Rees T, Shaw D, et al. Findings from a Project Which Established Hepatitis C Point-of-Care Testing and Linkage to Care at a Homelessness Service in Adelaide, Australia, 2021–2022. Viruses. 2024; 16(12):1882. https://doi.org/10.3390/v16121882
Chicago/Turabian StyleMcCartney, Erin M., Joshua Dawe, Lucy Ralton, Jeffrey Stewart, Jacqueline A. Richmond, Alan Wigg, Victoria Cock, Edmund Y. Tse, Tom Rees, David Shaw, and et al. 2024. "Findings from a Project Which Established Hepatitis C Point-of-Care Testing and Linkage to Care at a Homelessness Service in Adelaide, Australia, 2021–2022" Viruses 16, no. 12: 1882. https://doi.org/10.3390/v16121882
APA StyleMcCartney, E. M., Dawe, J., Ralton, L., Stewart, J., Richmond, J. A., Wigg, A., Cock, V., Tse, E. Y., Rees, T., Shaw, D., & Ferguson, C. (2024). Findings from a Project Which Established Hepatitis C Point-of-Care Testing and Linkage to Care at a Homelessness Service in Adelaide, Australia, 2021–2022. Viruses, 16(12), 1882. https://doi.org/10.3390/v16121882