Healthcare Providers' Views on Hepatitis C Testing and Counseling Among Sexual Partners of Hepatitis C–Infected Persons

Abstract

Background: Current hepatitis C virus (HCV) counseling guidelines do not recommend that HCV-infected patients notify their partners or encourage them to get tested. We aimed to assess healthcare professionals' knowledge of and attitudes toward counseling and testing recommendations for HCV-infected patients.Methods: A 15-question, anonymous survey was designed and distributed via e-mail to a convenience sample of healthcare professionals who work with Brown University-or Boston University-affiliated hospitals to assess their knowledge of and attitudes toward counseling recommendations for HCV-infected patients. The data were collected electronically and analyzed using descriptive statistical methods.

Hepatitis C Sexual Partner Notification

“…Do individuals have either (or both) a moral or a legal responsibility to inform sexual partners of a sexually transmitted disease? In this issue, Dunham et al 1 addresses the issue by surveying health care workers (HCW) to determine if they believe the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended informing sexual partners of an individual's hepatitis C (HCV) infection status. Although 73% of respondents believed that such guidelines exist, that belief is in error.…”

“…Intravenous drug abuse is the principal method of HCV infection: sexual transmission accounts for ~5% of cases 1 . Resources for sexual contact tracing of HCV-infected individuals are better used for following through on cases of HIV, syphilis, gonorrhea, and chlamydia, which are more commonly transmitted sexually.…”

“…Finally, the pamphlet/information sheet proposed by Dunham et al 1 should improve the number of HCW recommendations for sexual partner notification and testing. An HCW can hand out the pamphlet whether or not they would make the specific partner testing recommendation to the patient.…”