Background: The study objective was to identify potential sociodemographic disparities in hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection screening among Baby Boomers in the United States.
Methods: We analyzed cross-sectional data from the 2013-2016 National Health Interview Survey. The outcome was whether a person had an HCV infection screening (yes/no). Key independent variables were race/ethnicity, geographic region, poverty level, education level, and health insurance status. Multivariate logistic regression was performed to examine the factors associated with the receipt of HCV screening.
Results: The study sample included a total of 41,914 United States Baby Boomers, who represented a population size of 69,554,339. In 2016, the HCV screening rate among Baby Boomers was 13.9%. In the multivariate logistic regression, we found that Asians had 27% lower odds of receiving an HCV screening compared to Blacks (odds ratio [OR] = 0.74, P = .02). People who lived in the Northeast, South, and West had a higher likelihood of having an HCV screening than those who lived in the Midwest (OR = 1.33, 1.39, and 1.69, respectively; all P values <.001). Additionally, people with less education, lower income, and private health insurance were significantly less likely to have an HCV screening.
Conclusion: Future studies or interventions are needed to target these disadvantaged populations to improve HCV screening in Baby Boomers.
Keywords: Baby Boomer; Geography; Health disparity; Hepatitis C virus infection screening; National Health Interview Survey; Race/ethnicity.
Copyright © 2018 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.