Hepatitis C Virus Infection among HIV-Infected Patients Attending Dessie Referral Hospital, Northeastern Ethiopia

Abstract

Objective. Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) coinfection increases the incidence of end-stage liver disease which is more severe in immune-compromised HIV-infected patients than HCV infection alone. The aim of this study was to assess HCV infection and the associated risk factors among HIV/AIDS patients attending Dessie Referral Hospital, Northeastern Ethiopia. Methods. A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 249 HIV-infected adults selected by a systematic random sampling technique from January to March 2018. A structured questionnaire was used to collect sociodemographic and risk factor data. Moreover, the blood specimen was collected and tested for CD4 count and anti-HCV antibody detection according to standard operating procedures. The data obtained were entered into SPSS version 20, and descriptive statistics, bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed. A$P$value ≤0.05 with a corresponding 95% confidence interval was considered as statistically significant. Result. Of a total of 249 HIV-infected study subjects, 120 (48.2%) were male and 129 (51.8%) were females, while the mean (±SD) age and CD4+ cells/mm3 were 39.10 (±11.507) years and 316.08 + 290.607 cells/mm3, respectively. Anti-HCV antibody was detected in 13 (5.2%) patients with higher prevalence rate found in males$\left(P=0.078\right)$and elders >50 years of age$\left(P=0.013\right)$than their counterparts. Age group of >50 years of age (AOR = 9.070, 95% CI: 1.578, 52.117,$P=0.013$), longer duration of HIV treatment (AOR = 5.490, 95% CI: 1.341, 34.458,$P=0.041$), WHO clinical stage III/IV (AOR = 12.768, 95% CI: 2.293, 71.106,$P=0.004$), previous history of hospitalization (AOR = 10.234, 95% CI: 2.049, 51.118,$P=0.005$), tooth extraction (AOR = 6.016, 95% CI: 1.137, 36.837,$P=0.048$), and liver disease (AOR = 11.398, 95% CI: 1.275, 101.930,$P=0.029$) were statistically significant predictors of HCV infection. Conclusion. The prevalence of HCV infection is still higher and causes concern. Therefore, screening of these high-risk groups should be critical to reduce mortality and to improve clinical outcomes.